I understand this is because of its strong resemblance to an M16 or M4.
Want to know what else is a weapon of war?
But, Thag, that's a bolt action hunting rifle!
It is NOW, but in 1892 it was a state of the art design with an incredible rate of fire. 40 aimed shots a minute!
It replaces another weapon of war, what's known as the Trapdoor Springfield. A single shot rifle it too had an incredible rate of fire of 15 aimed shots a minute!
Cartridge guns were the assault rifles of their day.
Magazine fed guns were the assault rifles of their day.
Semi-automatic fixed magazine guns were the assault rifles of their day.
Now assault rifles are the assault rifle of the day... but they're not semi-automatic. They're selective fire.
AR-15's merely look like their military counterparts. There are small, but important differences in the guts that make them shoot much more slowly.
Oh, that reminds me.
This:
"But, Thag, those guns are obsolete!"
If you don't think that .30-06 can still kill, I invite you to wear a deer costume in hunting season.
Charles Whitman made the majority of his 47 hits with a Remington 700, it too being derived from a military bolt-action rifle like pictured above.
By the way, Whitman was stopped by a combined effort of the police and armed citizens. People whom didn't hesitate to charge into the gunfire and try to stop the murderer. Many people were injured or slain attempting to help those who'd been shot previously.
The "weapons of war" thing is a trap to get every gun. There is no firearm technology that hasn't been in use in war, from a flintlock to a pump action shotgun. As you say, most bolt action hunting rifles are derived from the mauser action. The Winchester trench gun in WWI was considered "inhumane" - a shotgun is inhumane in a war characterized by mustard gas attacks. The WWI trench gun is the great grandfather of the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500.
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