Reply #11: And firearms are not made precisely for killing either...

[spin]

firearms are made for many different tasks. Target shooting and hunting are two. Self defense is also a legitimate use of a firearm.

The defensive use of a firearm does not always require shots to be fired. Often, the mere presence of a firearm defuses a potentially bad situation. For example, my daughter was able to stop an intruder breaking into our home merely by pointing a large caliber handgun at him. The revolver she used was precisely designed for NRA Bullseye target shooting and was widely used in this sport until the advent of extremely accurate 1911 style .45 pistols after WWII.

The UZI you mention is primarily a sub machine gun designed primarily as a military and police weapon. As a full auto weapon it can be purchased in the U.S. but the price is enormous and the paperwork is far more involved than for a normal semi-auto firearm.

Over its service lifetime, the Uzi was manufactured by Israel Military Industries, FN Herstal, and other manufacturers. From the 1960s through the 1980s, Uzi submachineguns were sold to more military and police markets than any other submachinegun ever made.<1>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzi

Some UZI variants are semi-auto only firearms that can be sold to civilians. They are basically no more dangerous than any other semi-auto weapon. I personally have no desire to own an Uzi, either full or semi-auto, but I have known people who owned both types and enjoyed shooting them.