The antis are very good at mixing and matching terms for the ultimate confusion and then predicted response from the ill informed public. The almost outright lie, but it would hard to prove their purjury in a court of law, just because of how slick and practiced their terminology use is. We should be very afraid. We need to do a much better job of educating the folks who might be sympathetic to gun rights and the second amendment, but are scared poopless of machine guns because of gangster movies and an automatic connection in their minds between machine guns and terrorists. These folks don't stop to think that we might need some machine guns to stop terrorists at some point in time. For now, it just scares the living daylights out of them. If they "think" that politicians, newsreporters, police chiefs, etc, are discussing banning machine guns, they'll fall right in line.
I experienced this with my father in law, a retired policeman. He was pro AWB until I explained that they were talking about semi auto firearms only. He said, "I don't think anybody should have a machine gun". I didn't take him into the arguement about why he felt that way. That was for a later date. He can only handle so much at a time. So I told him the AWB had nothing to do with full auto machine guns. I asked him why he thought it did. He replied that he saw a news report discussing the AWB and they were firing a full auto weapon on TV. I explained to him the misleading reports run by NBC mostly. He was surprised. He then said he doesn't have any problem with people owning semi auto firearms. That was enough for one lesson.
Since then, there hasn't been an opportunity to revisit the machine gun debate. I'm of the opinion he would never be moved off of that position, but I'd still like to try some time.
http://www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=158&issue=019
Anti-gunners` motive behind the AW issue. In 1988, gun-ban activist Josh Sugarmann told "gun control" groups they needed a "new issue" to "strengthen the handgun restriction lobby," because "The issue of handgun restriction consistently remains a non-issue with the vast majority of legislators, the press and public."32 "It [AWs] will be a new topic in what has become to the press and public an `old` debate," he said. "Efforts to restrict assault weapons are more likely to succeed than those to restrict handguns."33
"Gun control" supporters are still lying about machineguns. In 1988, Sugarmann wrote, "The public`s confusion over fully-automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons--anything that looks like a machine gun is presumed to be a machine gun--can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons." Soon, CBS, NBC and network affiliates began running videos of machineguns during reports on AWs, a deceit repeated by CNN`s John Zarella and Broward County, Florida, Sheriff Ken Jenne in May 2003.34 Like the L.A. County Sheriff`s deputies` video of a decade ago,35 Zarella`s and Jenne`s mischaracterized AWs` power. President Clinton did his part to trick the public, saying, "I don`t believe that everybody in America needs to be able to buy a semi-automatic or fully-automatic weapon, built only for the purpose of killing people. . . ."36 Sugarmann`s group now pushes the machinegun lie with reckless abandon, using photos of machineguns to spruce up its AW propaganda.37