You are dead on.
For the unaware, VPC, or Violence Policy Center is a gun control think tank. They don't do front line activism like The Brady Campaign, Everytown, etc. Rather they're the ones studying the issue and telling those frontline organizations what to focus on. Basically every idea the gun control movement pushes was originally thought up by them.
Here's the conclusion page of a lenthy memo they issued over 30 years ago on the then-new subject of "assault weapons."
vpc.org/studies/awaconc.htm
They knew the public was ignorant on this subject, and they deliberately exploited and even encouraged this ignorance to advance their agenda. Exactly as you (>>664044) said.
As for how to counter this tactic? I don't know for sure either, but I do have a couple ideas.
1. First and foremost, be open about your gun ownership. As absurd as this sounds, we should really be taking a page out of the Gay Rights playbook. It's easy to shit on some vague boogeyman "other" . Its harder to shit on your co-workers, your neighbors, your friends, and especially your family. It's easy to hate some caricature of a redneck gun owner - its harder to hate that nice family man sitting at the desk next to yours whose always happy to let you take some Tootsie Rolls from the jar on his desk, or the cousin who taught you how to swim one summer 20 years ago.
2. As a continuation of 1, take new people shooting, as often as you can. It won't change everyone's mind completely. But it will get almost everyone to challenge their own prejudicial assumptions, and that is the first step towards changing their mind. As a side note, when you do this, don't be that idiot that has them fire a fucking .50BMG or something for their first shots so you can film it and laugh at them. The best option is a bolt action .22, preferably with peep sights or a decent scope, pre-zeroed to the range you're shooting at - ideally 25 yards with peep sights or 50 with an optic. I like to use a Savage Mk I FVT personally - single feed, no magazines. The pre-installed peep sights are very good, and will make newbies feel like they're goddamn Simo Hayha. The single feed also allows them to get a feel for how firearms work at a very basic level. You can graduate them to a mag-fed bolt action, and they'll immediately understand that now the bolt is just pushing in the top cartridge from the magazine instead of them putting it in themselves. And from there, you can further graduate them to a semi-auto, and again they'll recognize that now the bolt is just cycling from the force of the shot itself rather then their own hands. This hands on learning about the mechanics of firearms goes a long way towards breaking the spell of the lingo-based fearmongering the anti's use.
3. When it comes to online discussions, rather than getting caught up in technical details themselves, start off by explaining why so many gun rights proponents try to do that. Namely, explain the lie, rather than simply trying to correct it. Explain its source, its intent, and demonstrate that it is indeed a lie, not just accidental ignorance. Use the link I provided earlier. Show them how the gun control movement literally admits it relies upon the public's ignorance to advance its agenda. It won't matter to the zealots, but people who are mostly neutral on the issue tend to frown upon learning someone has been purposefully lying to them.
And of course, 4… be prepared to act if comes to it. And if it does come time to act, go the route of the Carcano first rather than the route of the AR, if you catch my meaning.
