Knock-off AK-47s are bad for business
AK-47s are the most popular rifles in the world, fueling conflicts across continents. But according to Spiegel, the company that manufactures the AK-47 might be facing bankruptcy:
Apparently all that stiff competition combined with falling arms sales thanks to the recession (Arms sales are down globally? Actually, for once, thank you recession.) might do the company in.
A few years back Vanguard's Christof Putzel and Kaj Larsen went to Somalia - where they discovered just how easy it was to buy an AK-47 (or likely a knock-off).
African machine gun market - Vanguard
Guns, Guns, Guns, Also on Current
- Machine Gun Shootout: Kaj visits Knob Creek, KY and shoots off some of the biggest guns you've ever seen in your life.
- NH: Locked and Loaded: Sure, New Hampshire residents will give up their guns. If you pry them from their cold, dead hands.
The legendary Kalashnikov is a Russian export success story. The guns are used by 60 armies worldwide, account for up to 80 percent of all assault rifles and are known as the weapon of choice for terrorist groups and rebel movements. But the Izhmash Arms factory in the central Russian city of Izhevsk, where Kalashnikovs are manufactured, has long been concerned about forgeries.
According to Izhmash Arms' parent company, the Rosoboronexport State Corporation -- which has a monopoly on supplying Russian arms to the international market -- there are about eight countries in which dozens of business are making their own versions of the Kalashnikov. And they are doing this without passing on any licensing fees to the Russians.
Apparently all that stiff competition combined with falling arms sales thanks to the recession (Arms sales are down globally? Actually, for once, thank you recession.) might do the company in.
A few years back Vanguard's Christof Putzel and Kaj Larsen went to Somalia - where they discovered just how easy it was to buy an AK-47 (or likely a knock-off).
African machine gun market - Vanguard
Guns, Guns, Guns, Also on Current
- Machine Gun Shootout: Kaj visits Knob Creek, KY and shoots off some of the biggest guns you've ever seen in your life.
- NH: Locked and Loaded: Sure, New Hampshire residents will give up their guns. If you pry them from their cold, dead hands.
