Originally Posted by The_Dunedan

Mr. Mephisto,
A true full-auto weapon is EXTREMELY difficult to get in the States. You have to pass a Top-Secret Level background check, pay a $200 tax on each weapon, meet very stringent safe-storage requirements, submit to years surprise "compliance checks" from the BATFE, get written permission from your local Top Cop, and on top of that you have to be able to pay upwards of $10,000 for one. A collection like Daswigs is worth several hundred thousand dollars, minimum.

As for "need" for such weapons, I submit the following two words: John Ashcroft.
You're right; my FAL and AK are not designed for hunting, although I do hunt with them on occaision. My FAL and AK are designed for killing people. In my hands, they are specifically intended to kill Tyrants. This was the purpose for which our Founders enacted the Second Amendment; "That every man might be armed" as John Adams put it. Jefferson said "no man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." The whole point was to have a constant, pervasive, highly visible deterrant in order to prevent the kind of intrusive government we have now from ever arising. At the time the 2nd Amendment was written, the word "Arms" meant any man-portable weapon, plus 2-pounder fieldpieces known as Falconets. The modern equivalent would be anything man-portable, up to and including shoulder-fired antitank and antiaircraft rockets.
The simple, sad fact is that tyrannical governments only understand one thing: force. Raw, relentless, merciless force. They don't care about polls, marches, protests, or letters to the Editor, because they simply ignore or crush such things. Freedom is upheld by the "Four Boxes;"
1: Soapbox. The ability to speak your mind in public.
2: Ballot Box: The right to vote and have that vote mean something.
3: Jury Box: The right to a trial by a Jury of your peers, and furthermore the right of Jury Nullification, which grants the Jury the power to find however they like and to vote "not guilty" if the law you broke was unjust.
4: Cartridge Box: The "court of final appeal." The ability and will to overthrow any institution which removes or hampers the previous three boxes.

The Second Amendment gaurantees the right of the People, through the Militia, to keep and bear arms. The Militia itself is defined as all males between 17 and 45, all women who wish to participate, and all older men who with to participate. Federal law makes a clear and careful distinction between the Organized Militia and the Unorganized Militia, and clarifies the Constitutional protection of both classes.