Richard,
The videos hosted at
www.biggerhammer.net are the very embodiment of your last comments above. Mostly, a bunch of wierd guys getting together and immolating some scenery with insanely powerful weapons. I guess it's human nature to get a thrill out of pointing at something, pulling the trigger and seeing instant results.
We don't have CCW permits here in Australia and most of our guns are outlawed, because we once had a lunatic kill 35 people in a shooting rampage (I believe it's still the worst recorded) and as a result, it's now very difficult to own a gun. I used to be a sporting shooter (I was a member of a pistol club), but it's so hard now, the effort expended to own or operate a gun outweighs the enjoyment of using one. I gave up years ago.