The Straight Dope on Kalashnikov Sanctions

Our friends at the FAIR (Firearms Importers Roundtable) Trade Group have compiled a very informative fact sheet on the sanctions imposed on Concern Kalashnikov, the manufacturer of AK rifles. This explains them in much greater detail than we could here, and is well worth a read.

The long and short of it is, if you've bought and paid for an AK, you're in the clear. Guns that haven't been paid for yet are more problematic, a fact that will be more of interest to wholesalers and dealers than to individuals.

It's been interesting to read online reactions to the sanctions, which seem to fall into three categories:

a. Obama's after our guns again

b. Good: now we should all buy American

c. We have to do our part to punish Russia for its aggression against Ukraine.

There are some elements of truth in all three opinions. It's hard to imagine that the current administration didn't relish banning importation of Russian AKs under the fig leaf of international morality. And, if you want an AK, you can support SGN advertisers like Arsenal, Inc., Century Arms or InterOrdnance that build them in this country.

Russian strongman Vladimir Putin wants to reestablish the sort of empire he served as a KGB man in the old Soviet Union. He has menaced and subverted the Baltic states, the Republic of Georgia and now Ukraine. He's in position to blackmail most of Europe by controlling its natural gas supply, which is why our NATO allies have run scared.

He is a very bad man who is an avowed enemy of our country. If cutting off importation of AKs hobbles him in the slightest, I say let's do it. I'd much prefer a spontaneous boycott by individual gun owners, and I'd also like to see sanctions on some things Democrats buy, like expensive vodka. But if it kicks Putin's shins, I'm for it.

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And Bulgarian AKs are nicer, anyway.