The AR in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle. Armalite being the company that initially designed and manufactured it, though basically everyone has had a go at making a variant of it. You won’t find the term “assault rifle” in significant use, at least not in English.
The AR-15 sold to the public cannot “spray.” They are semi-automatic. One pull of the trigger, one bullet out of the barrel. Fully auto or burst fire modes aren’t available to the general public; I believe a few made it into circulation but collectors tend to hang onto them. It’s not a bullet hose.
There are a lot of rifles out there that have walnut stocks and such that look like grampa’s huntin’ gun that are functionally similar to an AR-15, ie same ease of operation, same capacity, same (relatively small) caliber, same rate of fire. But you don’t seem to be afraid of those. So I can only assume you have a fear of black plastic. That’s the main unique feature of the AR-15 compared to other semi-automatic rifles on the market, the stock is made of plastic rather than wood.
Here’s the real truth: mass shootings in America are not caused by firearms engineering, and restricting features of firearms isn’t going to solve the problem. A shooting is carried out with an AR-15. People start talking about banning AR-15s. Remember Columbine? That was actually a failed bombing, most of the killings were done with a TEC-9…what would you categorize that as? An open bolt pistol? A “That’s not an Uzi?” and a shotgun. Well TEC-9s were banned. Sure stopped school shootings. Virginia Tech was done with pistols.
You want the problem solved? Work on reducing hopelessness in young men. People HATE that answer, because, well…people hate young men. But that’s the answer.