Define "Assault rifle".
In 1776 a "Brown Bess" was an Assault Gun, it wasn't rifled, in 1861/65 the Springfield or Enfield rifled muskets were Assault Rifles, today anything which is only semi-Auto is not an assault rifle. Under present law the first three mentioned are not even defined as "Firearms".

We have had laws pertaining to full automatic arms since 1934 I believe it was. These were primarily aimed at the "Tommy Gun", but the deep down problem was "NOT" the gun.

Miller/TN
I Didn't Say Everything I Said, Yogi Berra