The Media's lack of understanding when it comes to firearms(or intentionally misleading reporting) complicates, perhaps intentionally, the gun debate. Lott, a leader on this issue, makes several important points. Here is one:

The civilian version of the AK-47 uses essentially the same sorts of bullets as deer-hunting rifles, fires at the same rapidity (one bullet per pull of the trigger), and does the same damage. The M&P 15 is similar, though it fires a much smaller bullet — .223 inches in diameter, as opposed to the .30-inch rounds used by the AK-47.

Here's the other argument the anti-gun crowd throws out on a regular basis:

The Aurora killer’s large-capacity ammunition magazines are also misunderstood. The common perception that so-called “assault weapons” can hold larger magazines than hunting rifles is simply wrong. Any gun that can hold a magazine can hold one of any size. That is true for handguns as well as rifles. A magazine, which is basically a metal box with a spring, is also trivially easy to make and virtually impossible to stop criminals from obtaining.

Whether ignorance or wilful misinformation, the media is distorting the gun debate.