It depends on the meaning of "same", I guess.
The Mini-14 is kind of the same thing, too. In fact, any rifle which fires the .223 is kind of the same thing.
And any gun which is magazine-fed is kind of the same thing. Which means the Glock is kind of the same thing as an AR15.
Anti-gunners will continue to target the AR-15 until somehow every remaining gun is NOT the same. Then they will target something else.
Meaning it's profile is very "AR-15 like", unlike a Mini-14 or a Glock.
It's not like it was a 30.30 Winchester. I think you get the point.