Machine gun mania

Pieces of plastic, metal and cardboard flew across the field of the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area as cars, golf carts, jugs of water and even a cardboard cutout of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took shot after shot from more than 100 different machine guns.

The Hernando Sportsman's Club held its annual Labor Day machine gun shoot Saturday, hosting machine gun shooters of various levels from around the state.

"The people who come out and shoot are doctors, lawyers or business people," said Randie Rickert, club president.

For 15 years, the club has hosted the shoot three times a year, allowing shooters to bring firearms like a Maxim or Browning machine gun, both from the World War I era, and practice shooting at targets such as sinks, ironing boards and bowling pins.

Rickert said some machine guns can run as low as $8,000 to as high as $300,000, not including ammo, which could cost around $5,000 for one day of shooting at the event.

Attracting as many as 1,500 spectators, Rickert said the shoot introduces more people to the sport of shooting, including women.

"There are a lot more ladies shooting machine guns," he said.

One of those women is Patty Youngquist.

Youngquist spends most of her time as a business woman in Marion County, but spends her free time shooting machine guns.

She has been shooting for 30 years and said it doesn't bother her to be a part of a small group of females in a male-dominated sport.

"There are a lot of women shooters," Youngquist said. "From a self-defense perspective, I think women should be as capable to defend themselves as men."

Youngquist and her husband shot eight different guns Saturday, including Youngquist's favorite, an Uzi submachine gun.

"It's another thing we've had in common for a long time," she said.

Auto shop owner Tom Hauslein uses the shoot to spend time with his family, friends, neighbors and other gun enthusiasts.

"We're proud to be here exercising our constitutional rights," said Hauslein, who has been shooting machine guns for 20 years. "There aren't a whole lot of ranges that encourage this type of shooting."