I think that they recognize the gun control issue as a lost cause, so they’re trying to divide and conquer - their goal is to separate the shotgun people from the assault rifle people with the hopes of incrementally removing the rights of the latter without angering the former group.
Problem for them is that most of the shotgun owners also own or sympathize with so-called assault rifle owners. And nearly all gun owners recognize the true purpose of the second amendment.
They aren’t going to go all “MauHitlerStalin” on us without a fight.
That's what they did when they passed the 10 yr ban, and it worked. I knew a few Fudds out there who were all for banning semi-autos, and one was even a local dealer who continued on to denigrate a few manufacturers who made them. (Hint: He went out of business within a year of spewing that crap.)
This time, though, were on to their games, the guilt game, the divide and conquer gambit, and the "reasonable" laws lie. Hold the line!