I agree with your comment about 'overkill' for the hobbyist. Well, for most hobbyists anyway. But then there are always outliers...
Well I guess I am one of the "outliers". I am going back to my old job in a few months and pretty much work 6 months a year. I plan to get my class 2 FFL and do gunsmithing and select machine work on my time off so I do hope to turn my hobby into something I can make enough to be self sustaining.