All The AKs @ the Range Got me Thinking...

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mordechaianiliewicz

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Today, I went to the rifle range, and saw a whole bunch of folks shooting AKs. I noticed alot of Saigas, Romanian WASR-10s, and even an older NORINCO. But, every other shooting bench had one of the newer AKs. I was thinking looking @ all those that if the politicians think they can do AWB2, they might have some dificulty.

Have you all noticed alot of AKs, ARs, etc. ?
 
The more folks that own them, the harder they are to ban.

And it's not just the owners, it's their friends and family too. The folks that say "Assault weapon? Oh, that's like that FAL-thing that Bob took us shooting with last month, that thing was pretty cool. I don't see the problem with owning one if you're not causing trouble with it."

How many EBR owners in America? If each one took 10 people to the range this year, how many folks would still be all frantic about EBRs?

-MV
 
I think they're more popular amongst younger people as well. If you don't hunt, why buy a hunting rifle? Young people also like to buy guns they see on TV or in movies. Sorry, but in most action flicks, characters don't pull out Marlin hunting rifles or Bernadelli O/U shotguns. Practical uses for the rifles (and there are many) aside, they're just more fun to shoot. They use lighter bullets. So come on folks! Shoot an AW, all the cool kids are doing it... like they guy in the picture. :D
 

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All the attention they recieved in 94 created a lot of interest in them amongst the public. Before the 94 ban their were not nearly as many owners as we have now after the ban, most people didnt care. In some cases nothing makes something look cool like making it illegal. I go coyote hunting with my dad when I have the time and when I took my new AR out with me he really liked it. He had never so much as held one let alone shot one before (all his rifles are bolt action). He was always one that said he saw no use for those types of guns. Got me in a little trouble with my mom when she found out I had motivated him to buy another gun :D . The best thing you can do as a shooter to protect our rights is introduce people to you "evil scary rifle" and give them some trigger time. People just dont understand untill they shoot one.
 
It's a good observation. 1994 was an age ago in many respects. The influx of AWB-type firearms we've had since then and their massive increase in popularity will certainly be a factor in any new law.
 
I used to looks down on Semi-Autos, accuracy wise, but then I discovered that just because a bolt action might be capable of .25 MOA, that doesn't mean I am a good enough shooter to get that out of it. When a Saiga doesn't require me to break shooting position for 30 rounds, unlike a lever, bolt, and pump which require it ever single round, I find I am a more accurate shooter with the AR or AK.

And with the modularity of these rifles nowadays, they are even more user friendly than the older rifles.
 
I think they're more popular amongst younger people as well. If you don't hunt, why buy a hunting rifle?
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I would agree with that. I'm not a hunter and none of my friends are hunters. They all love my scary black guns when I take them to the range and thats what they want to buy usually too.
 
And with the modularity of these rifles nowadays, they are even more user friendly than the older rifles.
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I bet it's been 15 years since I last attended a rifle match but even then AR comprised the vast majority of rifles on the line. About 95% + IIRC. There were a couple of Garands (club loaners), an M1A and one 03. All the rest were some flavor of AR.

Best,
S-
 
I think they're more popular amongst younger people as well. If you don't hunt, why buy a hunting rifle?
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Exactly. I don't hunt so why would I spend money on a rifle that I'll probably never use in a caliber that doesn't have military ammo available? I've always thought I'd own a nice rifle for precision shooting, but it turns out that I can, and it's an AR-15.
 
Being a young person myself who was really getting into guns as the hype over the sunset was at fever pitch, it made me want one of those eeeeeeevil implements of doom even more. So sure enough, my first purchase was an AK; admitedly it was partially for the badass factor of it having previously been banned.

A friend of mine, also a younger guy, is thinking about making an AK his second purchase (he got a 10/22 first for cost of the gun and ammo, as well as for ease of use, which is an AWESOME choice and I told him that) partially because of the badass factor, which the ban definitely helped reinforce.

Nothing makes young people want something more than someone else telling them "NO!"

The popularity of EBR's with younger people is inevitably a very good thing. It helps mitigate that liberal tendency amongst most younger voters. If some college kid enjoys his AK and his standard capacity magazines, he's NOT going to be voting for the socialist liberals MTV tells him to vote for, because he's probably going to learn what their stance on guns is, and think "Screw that guy!"
 
The '94 AWB basically made EBRs VERY VERY popular ... significantly more so than before.

So yes, there will be more people effected by a new AWB and that's our best defense.


While there are some hard core antis in the DNC, most Democrats don't see it as one of their top issues. Now days TONS of their constituents own these types of rifles and I believe it will hurt the DNC even more if they pass another AWB (although some Democrats are myopic enough to pass one anyway ... McCarthy is one of these).
 
Agreed

I've been going to the local indoor range about every other weekend since the weather turned cold and I have to say I agree. I honestly don't think there's been a time when there hasn't been someone there (not counting me and my two AKs) with either an AK or an AR.
 
Yup.. nothing like relatively inexpensive to buy and shoot arms to get the young adults into the game. The SKS particularly I think is taking over the traditional .30-30 role as a cheap beater rifle... and serves as a nice "gateway" rifle to the ARs and AKs.

The very best thing about rights though.. once you've had a taste of 'em, you become very, very loathe to give 'em up.

-K
 
While there are some hard core antis in the DNC, most Democrats don't see it as one of their top issues.
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Probably so, the unfortunate thing about politics is that so often the tail gets to wag the dog. Many rank and file dems are not particularly anti gun, the problem is that not enough of them are fervently pro gun. So when the Dem leadership which is made up of fanatical gun banners brings forth an anti agenda and then turns up the heat on the fence sitters they tend to jump to the side they are instructed to jump to.
 
Even more important, introducing new shooters to semi-autos helps create the kind of culture that supports Second Amendment rights. At the end of the day, we need that culture if we want to win.

Right now the antis are biding their time, they know if they can curb the growth of that culture they will eventually get their way when we no longer have the votes to stop them.
 
My GP-WASR should be coming to my local FFL (well, not my immediately local FFL, since he wants $50 for a transfer) some time this week. The ammo and mags came today. I'm looking forward to joining the ranks!
 
Nothing makes young people want something more than someone else telling them "NO!"
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dumb a$$ Govt and Unintended Consequences
Never ever thought I would own what I do. The thought of some Senator telling me I cant own something will alway cause me to get it.....and not just one!!
 
Actually, yep, I didn't mention that but it is true. Younger shooters are the ones with 'em. And I know I definetely fit that demographic.

And, when I've been in stores, the younger folks are either going for the semi-autos, milsurps, and handguns.

While I have attributed the milsurps to cheapness of both gun and ammo, the semi-auto rifles have no such point (other than the ammo being cheap, although the guns rarely are), and only a desire for EBRs explains that.

But, as others have said, in a world where a kid plays HALO, and watches movies with high tech bad cop guns, gravitation will be different than the folks that grew up watching Gunsmoke.

As for future bans, I'd hope the Democrats will be able to figure out that this could hurt them.

PS

I'm wondering what import and domestic production figures point to for this. I've heard there are upwards of 6-8 million SKS rifles in the country. I'd assume there have to be millions of AKs, and likely atleast a couple million ARs out there now.
 
I think they're more popular amongst younger people as well. If you don't hunt, why buy a hunting rifle?
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On that note, if you do hunt, they can pull double-duty at the range or in the field.

I love to hunt, but standard hunting guns (single, bolt, pump) just don't appeal to me as much.

If I want to take my M1A out hunting, I can throw in a 5 or 10 round magazine with hunting shells. If I want to take it to the range and blast away, I can throw in a 20 rounder with milsurp.

The .458 Socom and .50 Beowulf are two more examples that can make the AR platform into an excellent hunting weapon for everything up to moose and bear.

EDIT: I probably also fit into the "younger people group."
 
They're the '94 Winchester of the new millennia. Every American should have at least one variant. ;)
 
mordechaianiliewicz

I'm wondering what import and domestic production figures point to for this. I've heard there are upwards of 6-8 million SKS rifles in the country. I'd assume there have to be millions of AKs, and likely atleast a couple million ARs out there now.
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I've been wondering the same thing. Ironic isn't it that the AWB and Zumbo blogs have probably increased the numbers in private hands.

S-
 
The beurocrats probably figure that if we have swallowed "The Patriot Act" and gross infringement on our civil rights with nary a whimper, that AWB will be a cinch. Confiscation will be next depending on how the AWB goes.
 
I don't mean to off track this thread la mazza, but who said we "swallowed" the Patriot Act? There are a whole bunch of people who hate it. It's just that both parties right now want it because political power is their "crack" and they don't care what their constituents (right or left) want.

Do you expect rioting in the streets?

With the Patriot Act, the vast majority of uses so far have been on falafel slinging Muslims in Dearborn Michigan, and on suspected major drug dealers the federal government can't make a case against.

If they used the Patriot Act to go after anything other than those folks, there wouldn't be riots. There would be violence. Really bad violence that would hobble the fedgov quick. And it seems at this point, a confiscation of AWBs would have the same result.

The problem we have, is that Americans can't see that a falafel slinging Muslim is far different from a bomb slinging one who is in Gitmo because he sent money to a cousin in Jordan or Egpyt. And that there are laws to fight drug dealers, and the government needs to make cases against people. Otherwise, we can all be in those two situations when one politician or another decides one of us is a "terrorist."
 
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