[Jeff Higgins]

Gotta go with Charles on this one. The novelty wears off very quickly. Everyone I have ever known that has owned a full auto weapon came to regret buying one. They are like horses; the best ones are the ones some one else owns and feeds. Fun to ride, but the cost and hassle of ownership just is not worth it.

You can never "undo" the state and federal paperwork required for clearance to own one. You will forever be on some one's list, "on the radar" so to speak. That tends to be the biggest regret I hear from owners (who have all, incidently, progressed to "former owners). The concessions you must make to own one are simply not worth it. Especially when you consider the real use you will get out of it.

I'm not aware of any public or private ranges in my area that will allow them to be run on full auto. The few times I've ventured out with buddies that own them, we had to head far up into the boonies where hopefully no one would hear it and call the National Guard or something. Folks will generally ignore gun fire within earshot in areas where they are used to hearing it. For some odd reason, they seem incapable of ignoring full auto fire. It tends to really get their attention. This will severely limit your options as far as places to play. Factor in the cost on top of that, and you too will soon join the ranks of "former owners". The only guys that hand onto these things for any length of time are the collectors that don't shoot them, or guys with some very unique circumstances that allow them to shoot them. You're probably not one of those guys.