No kidding. The NFA is ridiculous. I could tolerate the tax stamp and registration it if it wasnt for the pre-'86 closure of the registry. I'd still hate the NFA, but at least it would bring prices to a more reasonable level.
A side note... a friend of mine was deployed to Iraq last year. He's an E-6 (Staff Sergeant) Cav Scout in the TX Army National Guard. We were in class the other day, and he was showing me some pics on his laptop that he had taken with his digital camera while he was deployed. He had bought an AK-47 from a local for $100. He said it was fun to blast away out in the middle of the desert, just for kicks. I'll have to get him to transfer some of the pics, they were really cool. One pic was of him and a buddy on riding on donkeys, pretty funny.
Its a shame that he couldnt bring the AK back with him. He said when they were about to rotate back stateside, he sold the AK to another US soldier that was rotating in.