U.S. Is Accused of Trading in Knockoff AK-47's

[Rose Siding]

...The complaint is not about software or music. It makes no mention of movies or video games. It is about the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the most prolific firearm ever made.

"We see a great number of products which are named after Kalashnikov, my name,'' said Mikhail T. Kalashnikov, the weapon's original designer. "They are buying Kalashnikovs from other countries,'' he added.

Since the collapses of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq, the United States has been purchasing or arranging the transfer of thousands of knockoffs of Kalashnikovs commonly referred to as AK-47's, to outfit new military and security forces in Kabul and Baghdad.

These rifles have not been made in Russia, where the arms industry holds patents for the weapon in several nations. Instead they have originated in weapons plants controlled by Eastern European states, each of which was a partner of Moscow's in Soviet days.

So begins an argument at once curious, impassioned and bizarre, involving the legacy of cold war influence jockeying, secretive arms deals, recent efforts to defeat modern Islamic insurgencies, and international business and patent law....

http://nytimes.com/2004/07/26/international/europe/26russ.html?hp

[Anarcho-Socialist]

1. maybe the security forces will be clothed with $2 fake Levi jeans n/t

[Jack_DeLeon]

2. ROFL aint it funny how times change...

A hero of the Soviet Union is now complaining that he isnt getting his cut of the profits.

[rl6214]

3. So that's why

I can't get one.

[FeebMaster]

4. More likely you can't get one because

the civilian supply of machine guns has been frozen since 1986 when that pro-gun dynamo Ronald Reagan signed the Firearms Owners' Protection Act. The real deal is a bit on the expensive side these days, not to mention the paperwork and fingerprints and stuff that's involved. Of course, there are plenty of semi-auto AK clones available at somewhat more reasonable prices to pretty much anyone who wants one. They lack flash suppressors and bayonet lugs and whatnot since 1994, but come September 14th you'll be able to get rifles with those features again.