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Korean Garands

No, you can’t have one:

The U.S. government opposed South Korea’s bid to sell hundreds of thousands of aging U.S. combat rifles to American gun collectors, a senior government official said Thursday.

The ministry announced the plan last September as part of efforts to boost its defense budget, saying the export of the M1 Garand and carbine rifles would start by the end of 2009.

The U.S. administration put the brakes on the plan, citing “problems” that could be caused by the importation of the rifles.

The problems the U.S. government cited were somewhat ambiguous, said an official at the Ministry of National Defense on condition of anonymity.

“The U.S. insisted that imports of the aging rifles could cause problems such as firearm accidents. It was also worried the weapons could be smuggled to terrorists, gangs or other people with bad intentions,” the official told The Korea Times.

Perfectly good rifles that people want to buy. But the administration says no. Such a waste.

30 Responses to “Korean Garands”

  1. Shootin' Buddy Says:

    Elections have consequences.

    Hopefully an arms dealer scooped these up and is holding them in a warehouse in Israel (or wherever) so they can be imported in 2013.

  2. nk Says:

    I suspect lobbying by gun manufacturers, more than anything.

  3. Tam Says:

    Elections sure do have consequences. People voted for that limp-wristed liberal George W. Bush, who never rescinded Clinton’s executive order regarding BATFE waivers for US-made milsurps.

  4. Tam Says:

    NK,

    Yes, lobbying by gun manufacturers… in 1968.

    The ban on bringing in U.S. military weapons provided to other nations under the military assistance program goes back to GCA ’68. The main thrust of the law was to ban mail order sales, but a few U.S. gun makers, notably Connecticut-based Winchester, got Tom Dodd (D-CT) to insert the surplus arms ban and the ban on return of U.S. arms solely to protect themselves. At that time, Winchester was making expensive but poor quality arms (“post-64” guns) and was rapidly losing market share to the less expensive but better quality Remington products. Of course, Winchester could not admit that their products were inferior, so they blamed military surplus. Since Olin had a lot of clout, GCA ’68 became in reality the “Winchester Protection Act of 1968”.

    When the law was changed to again allow military surplus arms to be imported, the clause about “sporting use” was retained, but BATF was allowed to define the term loosely and grant waivers. Many M1 rifles and carbines were brought back under those rules. But Clinton, determined to punish his political enemies any way he could (he didn’t care one bit about crime or violence), ordered BATF to stop granting waivers and define “sporting” as “hunting”. Bush has yielded to pressure and has never changed that.

    NOTE that the old Olin-owned Winchester of 1968 has no connection with the current USRAC, so don’t start a boycott of today’s Winchester products.

  5. Jim S Says:

    They’re probably going to get dumped off an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean….the fate of millions of perfectly fine and collectible firearms that have served this country.

  6. Will Says:

    I hate politicians…

  7. mikee Says:

    So they sit in the Korean warehouse for a few more years – I might better be able to afford one when they finally arrive back over here.

  8. Ron W Says:

    This is a despicably evil decision. Those POWERFUL 30.06 rifles belong to the American people. They were carried by our fathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins and friends of “the greatest generation”. Gen George Patton described the M-1 as the “greatest battlefiled implement ever devised” and now these traitors will destroy them rather than sell them back to their peacable, law-abiding owners.

    The reason:

    ONLY YOUR ENMEMY WANTS YOU DISARMED!!

  9. Diomed Says:

    Of course, the barrels are probably all worn out from overly aggressive cleaning and the stocks soaked to the core with oil, so don’t be expecting a treasure trove of pristine rifles with lock-bar sights or high wood/I-cuts.

  10. Ron W Says:

    “Elections sure do have consequences. People voted for that limp-wristed liberal George W. Bush, who never rescinded Clinton’s executive order regarding BATFE waivers for US-made milsurps.”

    Right, Tam

    George W.Bush was NO coonservative and a CFR puppet traitor, just like his step-brother, predecessor Bill Clinton and now we have NO CHANGE with Obama, but just more of the same TREASON!

  11. Ron W Says:

    Excuse me, did I write Obama, Barack Obama? Sorry, I meant to say Barry Soetoro.

  12. PawPaw Says:

    Folks, have you never heard of the DCM? They sell used Garands to collectors and shooters all the time. It’s easy to join and they’ll send a rifle to your door. They’re the only outfit still able to do that.

    http://www.odcmp.com/

    A buddy of mine was at the Anniston store last week and said that they are re-arranging stock and clearing out a warehouse, expecting a huge shipment of Garands and carbines in the next six months. I’d bet that those are the Korean rifles.

  13. Roger Says:

    Every day that goes by, I am reminded of how happy I am that I bought an M1 Garand some 25 years ago from the DCM. Best money I EVER spent.
    That rifle will go to my son, after I’m gone. He tried and tried to get it from me for several years. Every time he fired it, it was like pulling teeth to get it back out of his hands. I only hope he doesn’t try to accelerate my demise to get it sooner.

    Roger

  14. Rabbit Says:

    Politicians are the new green fossil fuel. Available for immolation as of 2 November, 2010 when the country begins to return to her citizens.

  15. gene Says:

    Since the U.S. won’t import them, there is much better chance they will now be smuggled to terrorist.

  16. Paul Says:

    Strange.. didn’t the CMP just get back a bunch of M1 Carbines from Barvaria?

    So why not South Korea?

  17. JJR Says:

    I thought the CMP was selling Greek M-1 Garands loaned to them awhile back as well. This decision is patent nonsense.

  18. Spook45 Says:

    well they shouldnt have offered during a freakin COMMIE administration. What did they think that the FURER was going to allow the masses to buy more guns?

  19. flatdarkmars Says:

    Just to clarify, the rifles mentioned in the article are apparently not related in any way to the CMP. CMP Chief Operating Officer Orest Michaels posted on the CMP Forum:

    “The only way any rifle or carbine from any country can find its way to the CMP is if the country returns loaned rifles back to the US Army. When that happens, the CMP “may” possibly receive some of those rifles. According to the recent articles, Korea will not be returning anything to the US Army, but will be “selling” these rifles to an importer. If, in fact, these rifles are sold to an importer, the CMP will not see even one of them. We do not have any additional information on this subject. Thanks for understanding.”

  20. Texas Mike Says:

    Actually, they started importing those Korean Garands a few months ago. An FFL buddy of mine ordered 6 for our small group. Of the 6, 5 were post-1950 and 1 was a 6-digit Springfield Armory rifle refurbed at SA in ’53 (mine!). All rifles were well worn and filthy, most needed new barrels, but all had working receivers. The import mark on the barrel reads “C.A.I Georgia VT”.

  21. ssgnewt Says:

    just surfing and saw the handiwork of uncle-sugar. this does not suprize me at all, considering the shape our great country in in. i just thank the lord years ago i had the chance to get my hands on a 1952 international harvester m1. her name is alice and my grandson will someday shoot her.

  22. blounttruth Says:

    So by rejecting these rifles they will be for direct sale to any and all terrorist, gangs, or people with bad intention without the U.S.’s knowledge. Brilliant!

  23. WestBellevueDad Says:

    C.A.I?

    Aw crap, Century is importing them.

    There are better importers out there, with better reputations, and without a history of shady business practices.

    +2 that the rifles are coming home
    -1 that Century is doing the import

    Net net, a win but barely.

  24. ATLien Says:

    We should really be shooting politicians and their minions by the score.

  25. nk Says:

    My neighbor is a gun nut with a limited budget (he often has to sell a gun in order to get another) and he’s offered me a Greek Garand for $900.00. But I’m still holding out for his Springfield 03. 😉

  26. Matt Groom Says:

    No big deal. The Koreans will just hold onto them for a few more years until we get a more civil rights friendly administration, and then import them. They aren’t going to dump them into the ocean. Worst case, they’ll sell them to a foreign military that needs them, and they’ll serve another day. I seriously doubt the S. Koreans will sell them to someone who is a threat to American interests.

  27. Captain Holly Says:

    So Tam and Ron W, it’s your position that gun owners would have been better off if Al Gore had won in 2000? Because that’s the message I’m getting from your comments.

    I didn’t know overturning the Clinton policy was a major plank of the Gore and Kerry campaigns, but you learn something new every day.

  28. Jim B Says:

    These rifles were given to Korea free of charge. They own them now. They wanted to “sell” them back to our government. We will take them only if they are shipped back with just the cost of shipping paid by us. The Koreans would like to make a big profit and are therefore seeking an arms dealer who will pay good money for them.

  29. Tam Says:

    So Tam and Ron W, it’s your position that gun owners would have been better off if Al Gore had won in 2000?

    What, he might not have repealed the Clinton executive order, either?

    Tell me, what did W. do for gun owners? (Hint: Nothing, unless you count not pushing for a reinstatement of the AWB, which doesn’t count since the GOP-dominated Congress wasn’t going to do it anyway.)

    Would Gore have been a worse president? Indubitably.

    But Bush did nothing good for gun owners. Zero. (And some bad stuff. Tried to import an AK barrel lately?)

  30. A. Eller Says:

    I am told these M1’s belong to the US government, and Korea wants to sell them for the money.

    Why should we pay for something that’s ours already?

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