True, AK pattern rifles are made by several mfgrs right here in the states. None, though, at least to my knowledge, make an equivalent to the very popular magazine-fed Saiga 12-ga shotgun. Not yet, anyway.
Posted on 07/17/2014 2:03:24 PM PDT by luv2ndamend
According to a Presidential Executive Order issued Wednesday, the importation of AKs manufactured by the Kalashnikov Concern in Izhmash, Russia has been banned.
This includes the popular "Saiga" line of rifles and shotguns.
Mikhail Kalashnikov spent his life at the Izhmash firm.
The sanctions were taken because of Russia's aggression toward the Ukraine. Russian banks and energy companies were also targeted.
To be clear, the executive order does not affect Izhmash or Saiga firearms already in this country. This is not an "assault weapons" ban. Instead, it halts the importation of firearms from the Izhmash-based firm.
The news was released without fanfare, when the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Kalashnikov Concern and other Russian businesses to its "Specially Designated Nationals" or "SDN" sanctions list.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), according to its website, "administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States. OFAC acts under Presidential national emergency powers, as well as authority granted by specific legislation, to impose controls on transactions and freeze assets under US jurisdiction. Many of the sanctions are based on United Nations and other international mandates, are multilateral in scope, and involve close cooperation with allied governments."
In essence, once the administration targets a foreign business or individual for sanctions, OFAC gets it done.
Once a foreign business or individual is added to OFAC's SDN list, their "assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them."
There is no appeal.
In a statement on their website issued early Thursday, Kalashnikov Concern noted that the sanctions will hurt U.S. consumers.
"It should be noted that the production of 'Kalashnikov' in the U.S. enjoys high demand, pre-order products civilian three times the annual volume of deliveries. Thus, taken in relation to 'Kalashnikov' sanctions the U.S. government go against the interests of American consumers," the statement reads.
The firm is Russia's "largest producer of automatic and sniper combat arms, guided artillery shells, as well as a wide range of civil products - shotguns, sporting rifles, machines and tools."
It was founded in 1807, and exports arms and tools to 27 countries, including: USA, UK, Germany, Norway, Italy, Canada, Kazakhstan and Thailand.
Classic Arms — all Saigas are sold out...
Wolf, Brown Bear, etc — this type of ammo is gonna fly off shelves and become scarce soon.
It did not take long for steel cased ammo to almost completely overwhelm the ammo market. Brass ammo is now more expensive and less available. If it is true that steel ammo is impacted, it could be a good thing to help return to brass.
Everyone is forgetting the black market.
AK 47’s will come from Poland, China, everwhere, stamped with that country is the point of manufacture when in fact they are Russian.
In that part of the world the black market rules.
So you are perfectly okay with illegal EO’s. Duly noted.
GeronL asked me if AKs can just be made in the USA. I said they already do. They just won't be coming from Russia anymore, just like they no longer come from China (Norinco/Polytech) due to GHWB's EO from 1989.
True, AK pattern rifles are made by several mfgrs right here in the states. None, though, at least to my knowledge, make an equivalent to the very popular magazine-fed Saiga 12-ga shotgun. Not yet, anyway.
Bush (I can’t remember which one), did the same thing with China North Industries. They were turning out some really neat copies of old Winchesters and also a 1911 which was highly thought of as the base for a race gun.
Actually, it was Clinton that banned Norinco firearms and Chinese-made ammo. Before that, Bush 41 banned imported semi-autos broadly, but used BATFE to use their authority under the ‘68 Gun Control Act, no EO necessary. Importers got around some of those bans by changing some of the firearms’ features.
A thousand cuts....
Sure they do. I’m not sure it’s time to be voting from the rooftops though.
HOW OBAMA THINKS:
PROBLEM: BEcause of general inaction the United States of America has become a paper tiger, from respected superpower to insignificant, bloated, downgraded mass of wussies - unreliable to her Allies, a pushover to her enemies, losing even Iraq in a fog of meaningless words and inaction from the Executive, an irritant on the world stage.
SOLUTION: Ban some more guns? What do you think, Michelle? Or, say, hot-dogs and guns?
I am not imagining anything. I see a wannabe king making up EOs and another guy who thinks that is just fine.
First it was the 5.45x39 rifle ammo specifically, now they're going after the rest. Nobody should be surprised by this, after the "under the radar" comment and the inability to get any gun-control measures past the House.
Controlling firearm and ammo imports is as easy as a call from Valerie Jarrett to the BATFE administrator - that agency already has control of such import approvals. An Executive Order isn't required, except as an in-your-face gesture.
I'll bet the .223 AK finally gains popularity.
This is the reason I never got an AK74 variant....not enough domestic ammo production....7.39 is out there just more expensive from us manufacturers.....
Yes, .223 AK variants make sense from an ammo perspective. The reason I never got an AK in that caliber -— expensive mags and I already have the premier platform for that, the AR.
that is 7.62x39....
Yes, the AK magazines in .223 have always been pricey. If there’s a trend towards that rifle/caliber combo, MagPul should be able to combine the features of two of their products easily enough.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xhlofyvIXE
You fellows cannot possibly understand the Obama Gun Control Policy without understanding the educational video indicated above.
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