You do realise that the guns in Destiny have "damage fall-off" when you shoot outside of their optimal range, right? It pretty much falls into your offered spectrum, too. Null thread is null.

Should go AR > HC > Pulse > Scout as far as range. There should be a noticeable difference in their effective ranges. AR should be undisputed king at close, should stand a chance in HC range, and should have no business in Pulse - Scout range. HC should kind of have a chance in AR range, be the best in short-mid range, should not really have any business at mid-long range, and should only tickle in Scout range. Pulse should have zero business in AR range, have a chance in short-mid range, be the king of mid-long range, and should be a nuisance at Scout range but not super deadly. Scout should have zero business in either AR or HC range, should be able to challenge Pulses, and be the only gun aside from Snipers that can do any realistic cross-map damage. The way that Bungie got it wrong is there isn't any super discernible differences in the mid-range game among any weapons classes, and HC + Pulse have way too much range. Scouts should suffer significant handling penalties to discourage short-mid range use, but should reign supreme at great distances. It's easy to see why ARs are the worst. They are actually the only weapon that Bungie sort of got right. They need more killing power up close, and all other types need to have ranges / accuracy / handling adjusted to firmly plant them in their effective ranges.