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Actually,...an AK47 is an OK hunting rifle... but it won't win any awards. It's a little on the heavy side, and offers (whats a polite way to say it...) limited accuracy. It's small so it's good in tight places, but the sighting picture is awful so you need a scope for anything beyond 100 yards.

The one really good thing about it is the price. If you shop around you can buy one new, even in the US, for about $250, and you can buy them used for $100 in the street markets of any 3rd world country. And the Russian ammo for it is stunningly inexpensive as well... sometimes costing as little as $80 per thousand rounds.

In short, it's really no competition to the fine precision instruments that our military carries into battle, even if you aren't crazy about the smaller bullet our troops use. And while you could kill a deer with it in a pinch, it's not really well suited to hunting either.

But like I made clear in my post, I didn't buy it for that.

The fact is, most of the people killed in the 20 century didn't die with a rifle in their hands. Most of them were unarmed civilians, killed for one reason or another by their own governments. Had they been armed civilians, I think there is a reasonable case to be made that they would not have died at all.

Put a rifle in the hands of every man in Europe's Jewish Ghetto's in the 30's, and the ovens in Buchenwald would have never been lit.

Put a rifle in the hands of the 40 million Chinese peasants murdered by Mao, and Communism would have ended for China right there.

And THAT is why I bought an AK47. Because there are men out there (and women) who feel that they should rule, and that they should decide what's best for everyone, no matter what 'the peasants' may think. They talk about 'the common good' but what they mean is what THEY think the common good is...what people actually want isn't a consideration.

But when people like that know that I'm out there with my AK47, and that there are 90 million other people just like me... they know that they discard my opinion at their peril.

I'm no subject... I'm a citizen.

I'm a civilized, reasonable man who abhors violence, but will do whatever is necessary to protect my family and community from it's greatest threats. And if the 20th century is any indication, I've got to fear my own government more than any other.

Smart guys those founders.

But like I made clear in my post, I didn't buy it for that. The fact is, most of the people killed in the 20 century didn't die with a rifle in their hands. Most of them were unarmed civilians, killed for one reason or another by their own governments. Had they been armed civilians, I think there is a reasonable case to be made that they would not have died at all. Put a rifle in the hands of every man in Europe's Jewish Ghetto's in the 30's, and the ovens in Buchenwald would have never been lit. Put a rifle in the hands of the 40 million Chinese peasants murdered by Mao, and Communism would have ended for China right there. And THAT is why I bought an AK47. Because there are men out there (and women) who feel that they should rule, and that they should decide what's best for everyone, no matter what 'the peasants' may think. They talk about 'the common good' but what they mean is what THEY think the common good is...what people actually want isn't a consideration. But when people like that know that I'm out there with my AK47, and that there are 90 million other people just like me... they know that they discard my opinion at their peril. I'm no subject... I'm a citizen. I'm a civilized, reasonable man who abhors violence, but will do whatever is necessary to protect my family and community from it's greatest threats. And if the 20th century is any indication, I've got to fear my own government more than any other. Smart guys those founders.

Amen!