I'm a relative n00b when it comes to weapons. I'm not one of those guys who can watch a movie and tell you the make and model of every gun used, or field strip an M-16 blindfolded. I am, however, a U.S. citizen that believes that I'm honor bound to practice the right to own and bear arms to ensure that, among other things, the government maintains a healthy respect for me and my household.
I was recently in an argument with a co-worker over the necessity of owning firearms which are designed and intended primarily for shooting other human beings. When I related a couple of the stories I have read (real life accounts, not fiction) about people in pre-communist Russia, and pre-WWII Germany being ordered to relinquish their weapons, and only discovering afterwards that the reason was to minimize troop casualties when the army showed back up a day or week later to confiscate livestock and other goods, and to force able-bodied young men in the family into military service. His response was "but this is America, that could never happen here." I asked him why he thought that made any difference, and his response was "we're a democracy." Now, the U.S. is not, and has not ever been, to my knowledge, a democracy, but a republic with democracy-like representation. I didn't quibble over that, but did tell him that the countries I mentioned enjoyed similar forms of government prior to being overtaken by fascists. I went on to express my belief that the reason we are and will remain a republic is precisely because the government cannot force us to do otherwise, and the government cannot force us to do otherwise because the Second Amendment prohibits the government from prohibiting citizens to keep guns which would make such an effort too costly and ineffective to attempt. I still could not convince him it was so. He seemed to believe that America has been and will remain a "free country" simply because it's citizens have been granted the authority to vote and we like things this way.
My personal belief is that an inherent mistrust of the government is a healthy necessity that we all need to develop - even those people who comprise the government aught to carefully question the motive of every action they are asked to take. I'm not saying that we ought to develop a liking for lawlessness as some have suggested when they have heard me say this, but that we ought to always keep in perspective that the government exists for the sole purpose of serving our needs, not we its. The practical meaning of this is that if the government's requirements of you are reasonable and necessary, you ought to comply, but if the government's requirements become unreasonable or are still enforced although unnecessary you ought to fight back. There is considerable room for interpretation in those statements, and necessarily so because, just like our constitution, which the U.S. Supreme Court is fond of pointing out was loosely written, the actual meaning is contextual and will change over time.
Basically my reason for owning a gun is for protecting myself, my family, and my home from aggressors, regardless of who the aggressors are - it could be a burglar or it could be a soldier following illegal orders to violate my rights and freedoms.
So when I told that same co-worker that I was going to try one (Desert Eagle) out, and I related what I knew of it, he asked, "why would you need something like that?" My answer is that I didn't, but I don't have to need a sports car to want one either. It still fulfills the need but has a little extra kick for fun. I wanted to try one out because it's one of the most well-known and largest caliber hand guns available, and it looks freakin' cool.
I tried one out at a local gun range and learned why some friends with more experience had warned me away from it.
Firing the gun felt like hanging onto a standard claw hammer while someone hit the head with a 10-lb sledge. It was very difficult to rapid-fire with any degree of accuracy at all. And in true n00bish fashion, I found myself instinctively closing my eyes before squeezing the trigger. I could only hit around 6 inches of a target 25 feet away. I'm much more accurate with smaller calibers.
I figured I might just need a lot of practice to get used to the power. The ammunition worked out to cost something like $1.60 per round, so practice would be prohibitively expensive.
On the upshot, the gun is accurate enough that I could still use it effectively in a confrontation with a perpetrator in my home, and loud and destructive enough that even if I missed it would probably convince the perpetrator to disengage.
