Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

That Hot New Rifle From Russia

Editorial
Published: August 16, 2012

In an eerie postscript to the cold war, American gun enthusiasts have been buying Kalashnikov rifles and shotguns [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/business/a-kalashnikov-factory-in-russia-survives-on-sales-to-us-gun-owners.html ] by the tens of thousands, helping the Russian arms manufacturer stay afloat in a global market oversaturated with its AK-47s, long the weapon of choice among the world’s insurgents and armies. American sales of single-shot civilian versions of the Kalashnikov rose by 50 percent last year among buyers impressed with the automatic model’s lethal accuracy in the world’s trouble spots.

The manufacturer, the Izhevsk Machine Works, is quickly increasing production of the civilian version, benefiting from the fact that American gun laws are weaker than Russian laws, Andrew Kramer of The Times reported. Russians can buy only a long-barrel firearm if they have a police permit that requires a clean criminal record, a gun safety course and a medical certificate of sanity. That’s right: a medical certificate of sanity — something American politicians dare not dream of, let alone enact, under the intimidating shadow of the gun lobby.

The timidity of the political class when it comes to gun control — presidential candidates included — was sadly highlighted last month after the massacre in Aurora, Colo. Proposals to control high-powered weaponry — or at least ban the absurd 100-round clip used in the assault — quickly fell by the wayside as politicians refused, once again, to take firm control of gun sales.

As further evidence of the gun lobby’s influence, 51 United States senators sent President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton a letter [ http://www.boston.com/news/world/united-nations/2012/07/26/senators-voice-grave-concerns-with-arms-treaty/sFdEaXBbrrY6L5Tdx2DXXP/story.html ] late last month expressing “grave concerns” over a proposed United Nations treaty to try to control runaway global arms trafficking in conventional weapons. The main worry of the 43 Republicans and eight Democrats was that the treaty would impinge on Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms, a right the Obama administration stressed was well protected. The National Rifle Association had already issued an alarm to all members, so it was no surprise that the senators meekly followed suit.

© 2012 The New York Times Company

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/opinion/that-hot-new-rifle-from-russia.html