Wanna Buy an AK-47?

"Probably Chinese made...or Russian made"

First one on the rack is from Yugoslavia or Iraq, second one is from Germany.

First guy says all these guns creates instability. Second guy says every family owns one to defend themselves. So which is it? Are you saying that defending yourself creates instability? That gun rack looks a lot like mine yet I have a stable household, neighborhood, and community. I don't have to travel to the anus of the planet to find some kind of enlightenment or prove some futile point. A hunting rifle from Walmart can kill someone just a easy as any of those rifles. Look at the thrill and excitment you get holding one of those rifles, and then you think that it's alright for you to buy one, yet you think "the NRA has it wrong". If you truly felt that guns were the problem, and not the people, why would you want to hold one? You feel that you are a person of sound judgement which you probably are, but guess what? So are millions of other people so get off your high horse and join the rest of us gun owners of sound judgement and enjoy them.

Stay out of your car - it has a "silencer" attached to it. Duck, a dude with a tube that does nothing. You are right, nobody purchases an AK-47, then the ammunition, loads a magazine, inserts the magazine into the receiver, pulls the bolt back, aims the gun, and finally (this is important) decides to pull the trigger. Could of worked better as a more direct commentary about the human condition instead of blaming an inanimate object for it. Sorry, Bowling for Columbine has already been done.

NRA does not have it wrong! Kaj and Chritsof's parents got it wrong! look how they turned out like turds who run their mounts without knowing facts. Hey K and C, towels are running low in the bath house.

Guns are a great equalizer even in these impoverished parts of the world. Thugs (terrorists) will continue to get guns, regardless of any laws K and C.. Common households that are currently able to protect their women and children will no longer able to do so. Darfur and Kosavo / Serbia serve as good examples! Only when both sides were armed, did the genocide stop. And where they are guns, there has to be places where they are traded, repaired, bought and sold.

Now fetch that bucket and dont go running your mouth again. You both could have very well made this doc without mentioning NRA. But you did and called for it.

Wow Taj is a Gangsta.... ak47 man

Not a good sign.

hmmm an xbox or a AK47 and a rpg? no wonder africa is sooo dangerous. They are selling "homeland security" tools that cause genocide. Kalishnakov has changed the world way more than combustion engine or the railroad or even AC. guns 4 dummies essentially.
I love current b/c u will NEVER see something like this on american tv, ever.

Its not the guns that are dangerous, its that hands the guns are in. Police officers have guns but they don't kill people on a whim. Gangbangers and such may have guns but they are violent and careless.

I am 21, going on 22, I own three rifles, a shotgun, an autoloading pistol, and a revolver. I have a surplus ammo can sitting no more than 10 feet behind me with roughly 800 rounds of ammunition in it, RIGHT NOW. Would I ever shoot anyone? Not unless my life or the life of someone I care about is being seriously threatened. Even then I wouldn't shoot to kill. I value people's lives, while some others don't. We're not going to solve the issue of people wanting to kill each other by restricting guns.

Here are some quotes posted on another related string.

I feel they must be heard regarding this topic.

I must give credit to Hawkmang for posting these:

"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms, disarm only those who are neither inclined, nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants. They serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
~ Thomas Jefferson

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good"
~ George Washington

"Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defence? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defence be the *real* object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?"
~ Patrick Henry

"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed."
~ Alexander Hamilton

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
~ Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

"The NRA has it wrong, guns don't kill people, AK47s kill people..." HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

And the RPG with no rocket at the end made me snort milk.

It is a violent country. If they did not have rifles they would use machetes. There is no simple answer for the problem.

Wow what an ignorant comment - AK-47's kill people - how can an inanimate object kill someone? Hey genius - in 94 (when you were probably 8 years old) when 1 million people were killed in Rwanda - they did it with machetes - should we register those too? What about pitchforks - quite a few people are killed with them... evil baseball bats. I didn't see a couple of brave journalists - I saw two dumb white kids - Munzungus. I'm amazed you didn't get rolled after haggling with the vendors and not buying anything. Oh and your guide lied to you - that gun market has been on about a 100 news shows.

I wouldn't classify the AK-47 as a machine gun really....

But you got balls for going out to Somalia

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control. In 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million 'educated' people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars. The first year results are now in: Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent; Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent; Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 % (yes, that's 44 percent)! In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent.

Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!

While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won't see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it's too late! The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are 'citizens'; Without them, we are 'subjects'.

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please spread this anti-gun control message.

I agree with the things people have been saying above.

There's nothing particularly amazing about just being in a gun market. Any of these weapons can be purchased legally in the United States by citizens aged 18 and older, including AK's with a folding stock. They definitely quoted higher prices because you're white.

For taking the time to actually visit downtown Mogadishu, I'm amazed you don't have more knowledge of the guns, or the situation in general. However, I'll give you kudos for going somewhere I would never like to find myself.

And, most of all, I can't believe how scared you were of an empty RPG. It's quite possibly the MOST obvious weapon in existence as to whether it's loaded or not. That "crazy guy" in the market was just clowning you guys for overreacting.

I'm sure the $150 was for the stupid americans. The price for a Somali was probably in the $40 range.

I think these guys should check out a gun show if they want to see lots of guns. Any town in the U.S. will have a gun show and have 10x the number of guns they just saw. And yes, you can buy an AK47 at one if you want.

amazing. a Russian or Chinese made fully automatic AK-47 in the us would cost you about $1100. there it is 150.

Great piece, but it would be nice to be more honest about the local "real" price of those guns. 150 USD for an AK, but what is the average Somali wage? How long would someone need to work before they could afford to buy one?

There are American guns there! Where do they get them?

Talk about some bravery. Thats one neck of the woods i wouldn't want to find myself in.

and they say americans shouldnt have the right to bear arms

I think this pod lacked journalistic punch. If you're going to claim that small arms are the root of instability, you need to back it up with more than breathless astonishment at being in a gun market in Somalia. Personally I think that the type of small arms proliferation you observed is linked to instability but does not cause it. As others have pointed out, armed conflict is as old as humankind, guns or no. Your bio says you're from DC, a city that has both extreme gun control laws and high rates of gun violence. Of all people you should be able to see that there is more to controlling violence than controlling guns.

Great pod. but its not AK-47s that kill people, it is PEOPLE who kill people!

There is a lot of that going on in our neck of the woods too. Border cities, such as Reynosa, have had a strong military presence lately. Great classic pod.

when humans want to kill each other they will do it by any means possible... be it throwing spears... or Nukes.

A weapon is an inanimate object that only becomes animate if a human decides to use it.
weapons are not violent...until in the hands of a violent person....and you know it.
They were hacking each other up with machetes long before the guns arrived.

Awesome pod, Imagine a market like that in America, scary.

$150, that is commendable that you filmed this. Scary that its an open market that is easily accessible. AK-47s kill people. I wonder how many US citizen people or students have connections?? too many

Great pod.

Excellent pod - took guts for you guys to get right in the middle of that. Glad you got out when you did, though!

The issue of violent civil instability cannot be solved by addressing simply "gun issues". Violent civil instability is usually a bi-product of oppression in some fashion...so who should have the guns?
The solution is for an evolution of ALL humans to insist on non-violent diplomacy. Make it shameful and intolerable to commit acts of violence on other humans. Is it not already? I would say no based on our current warmongering cultures.
And I ask...are guns really THE issue? Because I can recall plenty of civil unrest before the guns were around. Ya know...back in the good ol days when we got up close and personal with swords, machetes, and pikes?
History has proven time and again that if you take the small arms away from the populace it just opens the door to dictatorship style oppression, further separation of the social classes, and blatant abuses of "executive" power.
For crying out loud people...we still haven't evolved past entertaining ourselves by watching 2 people beat the shit out of eachother....what does THAT say about humans as a collective?
Watch this video and ask yourself again...Who should have the guns?
http://current.com/items/88859774_marine_throws_puppy_from_a_cliff

150 for an AK! dang.. I spent close to 400 for mine..

and they most likly overpriced the guns a lot since your white

this is an awesome pod, nicely done.

More work from Kaj and Christof in Somalia:
http://current.com/items/mogadishu-madness/76377322