The Government, Our Nanny
By Mitch Berg
The Obama Administration is h objecting to the re-importation of World War II-vintage rifles lent to South Korea in the fifties and sixties.
According to The Korea Times, the Obama administration has blocked efforts by the South Korean government to sell over a hundred thousand surplus M1 Garand and Carbine rifles into the United States market. These self-loading rifles were introduced in 1926 [sic – it was 1936] and 1941…Along with AR-15 type rifles, the M1 rifles are the quintessential firearms of responsible citizenship, precisely the type of firearms which civic responsibility organizations such as the Appleseed Project teach people how to use.
The M1 Garand was the rifle that won World War II for the US.
M1 Garand (click to expand)
Big, beefy, weighing in at ten pounds when loaded with an eight-shot bloc clip of 30.06, it’s not exactly the kind of thing you take out to rob a liquor store.
The Carbine – which is also called “M1”, but is completely different?:
The Carbine
It’s a light little thing, issued to sergeants, officers vehicle crews and behind-the-lines guys who weren’t expected to do much shooting but needed something more intimidating than a pistol in case they did need to get out of a jam. It round was a little less powerful than a .357 Magnum – but the longer barrel makes it a little more accurate.
They’re sixty years old.
According to a South Korean official, “The U.S. insisted that imports of the aging rifles could cause problems such as firearm accidents.
I”m going to suggest that the market for these rifles is the least accident-prone one anywhere.
It was also worried the weapons could be smuggled to terrorists, gangs or other people with bad intentions.”
I sat and chewed on that for a while. Mexican drug gangs with access to all the modern AK47s and G3s their bottomless coffers of money can buy – thirty and twenty round fully-automatic rifles – would trade up for bigger, heavier, less-concealable eight or fifteen round semi-automatic rifles?
President Obama was elected on the promise that he supported individual Second Amendment rights. His administration’s thwarting of the import of these American-made rifles is not consistent with that promise.
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:52 pm
So, the US government could have allowed these collectibles to be sold to what may be the most law-abiding consituency in the US, based on fears that the guns might end up in the hands of criminals and terrorists.
I wonder who S. Korea will try to sell the guns to now?
August 23rd, 2010 at 12:59 pm
With the exception of the weight, both versions are fine rifles. There is a reason that Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. proclaimed it “the greatest single battle implement ever devised by man.”
The standard WWII US Army rifle company could really throw out a lot of lead at the enemy and even give them a significant advantage against larger forces. If you added the firepower of a BAR, well, as they say, the rest is history.
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm
…precisely the type of firearms which civic responsibility organizations such as the Appleseed Project teach people how to use.
Teaching someone riflery with a Garand would be like teaching someone to block using Jerad Allen. Yeah, it’d work, but he’d get flattened and wouldn’t come back.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Garand, but after 50 rounds or so the recoil goes from significant to immense.
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Nerd,
I never thought the Garand was that bad. Compared to an ’03 Springfield or a KAR98, anyway. Yowch.
August 23rd, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I put one of these Butler Creek Slip-On Recoil Pad:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=null-cat20811&id=0059423221143a&navCount=0&podId=0059423&parentId=cat20811&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=rifle%20stock%20pad&cm_ite=netcon&rid=2146251080
On the gun and it helped a great deal but you’re still feeling it after 50-100 rounds.
August 23rd, 2010 at 3:54 pm
It’s likely we’ll be in a position to take them ALL in 2013!!!
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Interesting objection. Not that there would be “too many guns on the street leading to more shootings” as that trope has worn out its welcome, but that there would be more gun accidents.
Well, yes, there probably will be more. If you allow more people to do something they previously weren’t allowed to do, some people will get hurt doing it. “Some” is more than “none,” so the accident rate went up. Technically true.
You know, people could get a nasty cut from paper ballots and cuts could get infected, potentially life-threatening. Those little pencils could poke someone’s eye out. And there’s no training, no license required. Why, anybody could just walk into the polling place and do it. Voting is such a risky activity. It should be left to professionals.
All you lefty types who fear risk of all kinds: STAY HOME IN NOVEMBER. We’ll take care of it for you. Trust us.
.
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Nate, don’t forget that the correlation between firearm ownership and accidents in the past 50 years is negative.
Amazing to think of our 150 lb soldiers of the past wars lugged that around….I get pretty tired with a 7 lb deer rifle and no significant backpack!
August 23rd, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I own one of these, and even besides the emotional attachment (inherited it from my grandfather) it’s without a doubt my pride and joy. Sure it’s heavy, it’s loud and it kicks like a mule. But damn is it accurate and it’s just such a well-built piece of….well, art.
I’m absolutely astounded that our boys in WWII hauled these all the way across Europe. I’m constantly amazed at WWII combat vets who still possess two functional ear drums and two working shoulders. For those reasons this isn’t the rifle you would use to hold up a 7-11. It’s not even one I’d use for home defense.
But if I want to spend a day at the range having a blast, this is my rifle. It’s reliable, accurate and works every time.