Well yes and no. In total auto rifles were more popular. But that was mostly due to the gallahad e being very good for low level players. The only really good handcannon's are the exotics. Which is either a pain in the ass bounty. 23 strange coins some time ago or a very small rng chance. I don't think auto rifles needed any nerf to be honest. They were weak in pve before the patch (least damage in mag) and in the right hands exotic handcannon's outclassed them. Now the suros was pretty good. Being very reliable at all ranges. So some damage fall off would be nice. Not a 14-16% damage reduction at all ranges