American civilians buy as many AK47s as the Russian military and police… and demand is surging because gun owners fear they will be banned

In short: about 40% of the AK-47s made in Izhvesk, Russia, home of the Izhmash Kalashnikov factory, are going to the US civilian market.

While these are, sadly, semi-auto rather than full-auto, it’s good to see the increase. The Daily Mail article links to a New York Times article, and both make a massive journalistic faux pas: they both point out that many of the AK-47’s are going to American hunters, who are, contrary to the politically correct talking point, effectively using the AK-47 to go hunting. And why not? It’s cheap, reliable, easy to maintain, and kinda-sorta vaguely accurate.

This is good for everyone involved: the Russians get an economic boost, America gets more quality firearms. When you consider that gun rights and gun ownership rates have been on the rise for the last ten years or so, while at the same time crime has been on the decline, increased ownership of AK-47’s can only be a good thing.

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Heh. Reading the comments section of the New York Times is both instructive and entertaining.

Maybe start by passing local government laws to tighten up on gun control, then local government could take on central government on this issue. Who needs a semi-automatic weapon in an urban concrete jungle? The days of the Wild West have long gone and people go to the supermarket to get food these days. You’ve got the government and military forces to protect you. You need to put your trust in your government to protect you like other nations do.

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Just you wait. The next mass killing is around the corner. And guess what the weapon will be? Why do we need this? Is there any way we can stop the insanity? Can we take to the streets? Let’s organize, people!

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This is crazy. There isn’t one good reason why anyone over here would ever need one of these.

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Wait. Did I say “entertaining?” I mean “sad.”