There are reasons the ComDems want to eliminate ARs and AKs.
They can be made in modest machine shops from a few castings and the parts are available in many places. Standard design.
These are a version of the weapons that the military train with. They are light, accurate, large enough to kill a man and are pretty reliable.
There are a lot of civilian style weapons that have a lot more knock down, range and accuracy. So this is about something other than being powerful.
I don’t own one, but would love to own an old M1. That heavy beast is a military weapon. Long range, accurate, reliable and powerful.
The Sten submachine gun was turned out by the thousands in plumber’s shops in occupied Europe. One of my neighbours, when I was a kid, had one that he used on single-shot to slaughter sheep :).