The whole "AWPers massacre the other team" mentality is (no offense to anyone here) quite a noob mentality.  It's about utilizing cover, fake peeks, and nades to get at the AWPer.  Most people think they can go toe-to-toe from long distance with an AWP, and most of the time that gets them killed.  When real-world results don't measure up to their large self-expectations, they get mad and start blaming the gun.

Like someone else said before me, the problem with balance is that a 20-player team will never be able to coordinate gun buying, so only a few members of the losing team will have a useful gun while most of the team has a pistol.  A good player can do quite a bit of damage with a USP, but I doubt the average player on your server even knows how to use the gun.  A simple fix: If a team loses 3 rounds in a row, give everyone on that team $4000.  That should ensure that everyone can be somewhat properly geared up.  If they continue to lose, just award them $4000 every round after that.  That way the losing team has a fighting chance.

Lastly, a funny story.  I played with Parik the other night and he was AWP whoring as usual; I rushed him through long and missed 4 point blank shots with the deagle (fail).  I ended up taking out my knife, hopping up to him, and knifing him in the face.  So yeah, one AWP really isn't that big of a deal -- the issue is team balance and cash rather than a gun I've only seen one person (Ownage) use well.

p.s. problem with awpers in mid?  learn to wallbang.