Well, defecate and shove me in it! Is Obama trying to get re-elected, or what?
Korea Times Exclusive: US allows import of 86,000 M1 rifles from Korea.
Washington has agreed to allow the importation of M1 Garand rifles from Seoul, reversing its earlier decision to ban the shipping of the weapon used by South Korean and U.S. soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
“The U.S. government approved the imports of some 86,000 of the rifles,” said Lee Sun-chul, deputy defense minister for force and resources management.
“The historic firearms are expected to be sold to American Korean War veterans and their families in time for the 62nd anniversary of the Korean War, which falls on June 25 this year.”
Kim Mi-sung, an official of the force and resources management office, said the defense ministry received an approval letter from the United States on Sept. 2 last year that stated Washington agreed to allow the importation of the M1s.
She noted that the U.S. government, however, rejected Seoul’s proposal to export some 600,000 M1 Carbines, which were also used in the Korean War, as they come with a magazine that can carry multiple rounds unlike the Garands.
“We plan to announce a bid later this month or in February for the selection of agencies to sell the M1 rifles to Americans,” Kim said. “The U.S. has been reviewing legal procedures for the approval of a third party transfer.”
The official said Korea plans to purchase locally developed K2 rifles with the money raised by selling the M1s.
The Obama administration blocked the purchase of 87,310 M1 Garands and 770,160 M1 Carbines in 2010, saying the American-made antique rifles could “potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes.”
But, there is one last caveat:
A senior defense ministry official, however, raised the possibility that the U.S. government may cancel the plan to allow the purchase the M1s, saying Seoul has yet to finalize negotiations with Washington.
``We have yet to receive confirmation from the United States over our proposal,” he said. “The U.S. government may change its position at the last minute due to political considerations.”
If. . . Maybe . . . Of course if M-1 Garands were the "weapon of choice" of Mexican drug cartels?
Willie and Joe at least will be happy.
12 comments:
The historic firearms are expected to be sold to American Korean War veterans and their families
I don't have much to get excited about, unless they count my relation to a great uncle who fought in Korea.
“The historic firearms are expected to be sold to American Korean War veterans and their families in time for the 62nd anniversary of the Korean War, which falls on June 25 this year.”
Hey, my Dad served during the Korean War!
My father served in WW2 and Korea, may he rest in peace. I hope the Koreans send a pile of ammo with them, so the price of Garand food comes down a bit!
Hey, I served in the Korean cold war! I'd get an M-1, and add the hold-open. Perfect.
Peep sights on a Garand are unmatched. Nothing better without glass.
Korean .30-'06 ought to come over in container-loads to feed them. Bring the AP!
We shall see. I won't hold my breath.
Wouldn't this fall under the Civilian Marksmanship Program?
http://www.odcmp.com/sales.htm
capn
To answer "Well, defecate and shove me in it! Is Obama trying to get re-elected, or what?"
Well...I might be easy, but I'm not cheap.
Well, I wanted one of the carbines but I'm out of luck.
I also wanted my second amendment. But I'm out of luck there too.
I guess other people are making all my choices for me now and I don't have anything to say about it.
It looks like my vote isn't going to count anymore either, if you follow the "newest" results for the primaries.
Well it seems to me that the obvious work around regarding the M1 carbines would be for the ROK government to work some sort of deal via the CMP. It will be interesting to see how the sale of the Garands pans out.
He he he...I've GOT an M1 Carbine. Sure would like to have a few more...
Anonymous at 8:38 is right - this should fall under the CMP. That's the issue with reimportation. They're still US property that was loaned to Korea. This is like giving your neighbor a lawnmower, and a couple years later, he trys to sell it to you. Sure, you've gotten a riding mower since then, but you might still have use for it... and either way - it's still your property.
The administration whining about evil assault murder death kill guns is the usual stupidity, but as to who the guns belong to, they're still US property (at least in every story I've read). Thus, we're allowing Korea to import back to us what taxpayer dollars already bought - selling us our own gear that never actually became their property.
These guns should all be CMP.
I'd take a good hard look at any of these surplus Garands and Carbines before you buy. It's likely that many of them were used for training South Korean soldiers over the years, they could mostly be burned out.
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