It depends. Guns are objects and tools so it depends on the person using them how they are perceived.
A guy can stab someone with a screwdriver and, in that instance, the screwdriver is utilized as a tool of destruction. A guy can build a shelf using that same screwdriver and it's a tool of creation.
Same with guns - they can be used for home defense or hunting (opens potential for future 'creation') or as murder weapons. AR-15s are pretty common rifles, don't have much recoil so are easy for smaller people to shoot, look scary, and are well-rounded for more than one application...Them being so common and their appearance are the biggest reason they're infamous. If recent shooters had all favored something like a Glock 21 or the like then that could have easily been the "gun that's so bad"
There are legal to own guns with higher stopping power, faster potential rate of fire, etc but they aren't common so nobody bats an eye.
please stop. TC doesn't deserve it ---
I obviously like you at least a little to even talk to you -cornman one day I hope to post a message so great it ends up in someones sig -Two_Dee