Are attributes of different "assault weapons" merely cosmetic?

[0rganism]

131. this thread shows how emotional the debate over gun control is

There are some people who know plenty about firearms on both sides of nearly any possible sub-topic up for consideration, and each side is pretty well entrenched in its positions. I have yet to see anyone actually change an opinion either way based on these "discussions" (as in, someone in the thread outright says, "Gee that's interesting, I hadn't thought of that before. You made me rethink my position on this issue.&quot Now, to be fair, there probably aren't a whole lot of controversial topics on DU where this happens, but this one sure does bring out the "closet rightwinger" and "authoritarian asshole" accusations.

Which makes me wonder, is it possible to have a constructive conversation among Democrats about what sensible, safety-conscious, freedom-respecting small arms regulations would look like? Regulation that respects the rights of prospective as well as established gun owners yet enhances public safety with respect to firearms? Everything proposed is somehow controversial, yet there seems to be consensus that something must be done. If we can't agree amongst ourselves on this, what are the odds we'll ever have something workable at the federal level?

I'm going to try to craft an OP for this purpose. Preliminary hypothesis: it will sink like a stone.