Whole bunch of folks who had very good reasons to hate Germans and the weapons they used were awfully proud to bring home Lugers, Walthers, Mausers and MP40's.
Ah, Craig, not picking on you, but I still don't see it the same way. It's not about hating the Germans and the weapons they used. First, many of us are descendants, if not from Germans, from other central European peoples; historically and culturally, we as Americans have far more in common with Germany than we do with the Slavic races and second, the Lugers, Walthers, Mausers, et al are typically all superbly designed, engineered and well-built firearms. No surprise they have been, and still are, prized weapons.
Aside from my opinion that the AKs are crude. not very accurate and ugly, yeah, go ahead, poke fun at those of us who don't care for (as the legend Clint Eastwood said in the classic motion picture
Heartbreak Ridge) "the preferred weapon of our enemy," call us silly, hypocritical or overly sensitive, some of us just don't like 'em and believe there are a lot better options out there.
But to answer the OP's question, if it were the
only rifle available to me in a bad situation, of course I'd use it as my "primary defensive rifle." I still wouldn't respect myself the next morning, though...
It's just like anything else -- comes down to personal preferences. Some of us don't really care that much for Glock pistols, either (sacrilege, I know).