I came here to answer a question: Why do people find it fun to attend a festival where they can shoot the country’s most powerful civilian weaponry during a time of mass violence? In many people’s view, gun ownership is integral to America’s cultural identity. But guns also cause a significant number of preventable deaths every year. So OFASTS offers a distinctive combination of recreation and regulation: Fans of automatic weapons have the chance to use some of the most heavily tracked armaments in the country, in an environment akin to a county fair.

Friend agreed to let me attend, requesting only that I bring an open mind. “We’re from a different part of the country,” he wrote in an email. “We like guns and love to have fun with them.”

Many of the event’s attendees were Oklahoma residents who have visited OFASTS for years. Some were retired, while others were in their 20s; a number had grandparents or children in tow. In previous years, overseas visitors have hailed from places like Israel and New Zealand. OFASTS may be their only opportunity to use fully automatic weapons, firing their favorite video-game gun or using the equipment of their enlisted years. Plus, as I discovered, shooting was a genuine thrill—not unlike the adrenaline rush of driving a car at illegally high speeds.

The shoot’s exhibitors were wary of me at first. One man walked away at the mention of an interview. A couple from Minnesota requested that I avoid taking pictures of their faces, as they could end up in a government database. There was a palpable sense of fear in interacting with the quote-unquote media—capable of twisting gun enthusiasts’ words and maligning their character. It was only when I explained that I was also shooting this weekend that people became comfortable.

One exhibitor, Bill Stover, a Title II/III machine gun dealer and owner of an Oklahoma arms store, had brought his entire extended family: his wife Teresa, his nephews, their spouses, and assorted children. Teresa introduced me to the group, explaining that I was a writer from New York. I added that I was also a shooter.

“Heck yeah you are,” Teresa said cheerfully.

Although Stover was busy wrangling ammo boxes and assembling tents, he made time to sit with me. He looked like many a dad: a bristle-brush mustache, glasses with Transitions lenses, and a slim frame beneath a loose T-shirt.

“I got into machine guns because it’s the kind of hobby that also makes money,” Stover said. That’s because these weapons are now considerably rare: The Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 banned the sale of newly manufactured automatic weapons to civilians. Guns produced before the ban are individually monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and they command premium prices. An AK-47 might cost a collector upwards of $15,000, Stover said; a .50-caliber Browning M2 could easily run to $80,000. Some people buy them exclusively as an investment, Stover told me.