I'm a gun owner with Asperger's. I conceal carry every day, am a firearms instructor, and am also a competitive pistol shooter. A big part of the draw to firearms, for me, has been the appreciation of fine craftsmanship, creative engineering, and generally appreciating fun examples of mechanical devices (just like watches, electronics, sports cars, etc.). The major other factor is self-reliance.
As far as my personal tastes, I consider myself an enthusiast, the same as I'm an automotive enthusiast. I tend to have appreciation for just about anything when it comes to firearms. I do tend to like a lot of manufacturers on the finer side of things, such as SIG Sauer, H&K, Glock, Walther, etc. I like, own, and carry Glocks since I'm a big fan of their utilitarian nature and ease of maintenance. Literally, with only a short amount of training, pretty much any gun owner can effectively become their own "armorer" with a Glock. That being said, I love guns with hammers as well.
So, I don't ride any bandwagons. LOL
Thankfully, in my experiences and time in and around the firearms industry, I have been fortunate to have trained and shot with a fairly wide range of individuals from all walks of life. I have ALL sorts of stories, some you wouldn't believe, some that are downright hilarious, and some that are truly eye-opening to the way the world works and just how unpredictable human beings can be. I've trained students that have been the victim of crimes, students that have had dedicated and serious stalkers, one student that escaped a broad daylight kidnapping attempt, as well as some handicapped students.
I've also shot my fair share of machineguns. Eventually, I hope one day to be able to afford a transferable H&K MP5, as they're one of the funnest submachineguns around. Unfortunately, a civilian legal/transferable one tends to start around $15-20k, putting them well out of reach for most people. Machineguns I've shot before, that I can remember, are: 2 different generations of Glock 18's (bullet hose), Ingram 9mm Mac 11 clone (insane rate of fire), multiple MP5's, MP5K's, and MP5SD's, H&K UMP, IWI Mini Uzi, Kriss Vector SMG, M3A1 Grease gun (most controllable .45acp subgun I've ever shot), multiple M4/M16's, B&T TP9, and I think several others I can't remember.
On a side note, I have a fairly extensive amount of experience with firearms. If anyone ever wishes to, I am more than happy to answer any
rational questions you might have on the subject.