The AK Rifle: Now A Good Guys Gun?

The AK-107. The sanctions on Russian firearms must end
so this beautiful rifle can find its way into the United States.

According to ViceNews, due to the recent sanctions on Russian manufactured products, such as Kalashnikov firearms, the company has created plans to change the way the Avtomat Kalashnikov 47 (AK-47) is viewed. While the original design for the AK-47 was created in the year 1947 by a Russian peasant inventor named Mikhail Kalashnikov, the AK-47 has seen thousands of variants from dozens of countries. The image of the AK-47 can even be seen on various flags. The original AK-47 had seen combat in the Vietnam War and still finds its way to war-torn lands, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. However, a truly original milled receiver AK-47 from Russia is quite rare; most often, the stamped receiver AKMs (the "M" stands for "modern" or "modernized") from numerous countries around the world are used. Of course, third-world countries are not the only ones to use such a prominent firearm. Soviet and Russian forces obviously adopted it as their service rifle, as it was a Soviet creation. Surprisingly, the United States is another country that contains a wide array of Russian AK rifles, both milled and stamped. Russia actually exported approximately 80 percent of their Kalashnikov rifles to civilians. Around 90 percent of those exports went directly to the United States. However, due to the sanctions on such firearms, the company has stated its need to turn back to selling to militaries. Just recently, the Kalashnikov Group began manufacturing the AK-107. A semi-automatic, civilian version was produced, but the sanctions put a halt on shipping that beautiful rifle to the United States. Also, in an attempt to clear the name of the AK rifle, the company created an advertisement that transformed the firearm to look as if it was a "weapon of peace." When the ViceNews reporter for this story was brought to a shooting range in Moscow, he saw the concept of "weapon of peace" quite clearly. The Russian competition shooter that was with him brought an AK that was used by a member of a special forces team. This member used this rifle to fight terrorists and other individuals that would threaten the well-being of innocents. However, most Americans, besides those that own AKs, still seem to feel as if the AK rifle is the "bad guys gun." While I personally admire the design of the AK and wish to own a few, I can understand why many people feel that the AK is evil. The firearm is used in approximately 250,000 killings every year and every time a terrorist is seen in the media, they are usually holding an AK pattern rifle. However, the AK platform of firearm is continuing to become more and more popular in the shooting world. Personally, I cannot wait to be over 18 years old and purchase my first AK rifle. That will be a great day.

Minor language used. Viewer discretion advised.

Note: In one scene, the translation appears to be incorrect.

When three calibers appear, it should read as the

rifle fires the 7.62x39mm round, none of the other calibers.