Revisiting the AK-47, part II

The prior post explained why the AK-47 has approximately four-times the destructive power of standard-issue police firearms. The destructive force of a firearm is the kinetic energy (measured in foot-pounds) it delivers to a target. Kinetic energy is a product of the weight and velocity of bullets expelled by the weapon.

This post provides a coda, by illustrating the destructive power of the AK-47 with a look at the only handgun on the planet that packs equal punch. Smith & Wesson has developed a .50 caliber revolver, purportedly for the big-game hand-gunner market. Three new cartridges have been developed for this 5-shot weapon. This picture shows that the powerful .357 Magnum round (left) looks puny by comparison to the most powerful of the new .50 cal rounds (right).

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You might recall that the .44 magnum round was made famous by Clint Eastwood. Note the "muzzle energy" ratings beneath each round (above). The .50 cal S&W delivers 2,600 ft-lb kinetic energy, slightly more destructive power than is produced by an AK-47 firing 150 grain bullets. So how big is the weapon that fires the new monster bullet? More than big enough to make Dirty Harry want a new gun:

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The only handgun on the planet that equals the AK-47's power is simply huge. Don't be mislead by the "assault rifle" tag. The AK-47 is a device for delivering a level of destructive force that no private citizen needs to possess. It isn't a hunting weapon and other types of firearms are more appropriate for personal defense, e.g., shotguns.

So-called militias, anti-government extremists and violent hate groups love the AK for its power and low cost. Eastern European AK's can be purchased new for as little as $600, about the same cost as a top-name handgun from manufacturers like Glock or Beretta. That's very little money considering the AK-47 packs four-times the punch of the typical handgun and provides the asymmetric firepower that recently killed two police officers.

The 43rd President wrongly allowed the assault weapons ban to lapse. TheRaven expects the 44th President to push comprehensive gun ownership reform in his second term. Expect a firestorm of rhetoric and threats that will make the tea baggers look like a church social. Watch for the lies, don't be confused between the right to bear arms and the non-right to pack more firepower than the police. The President does not intend to take away legitimate hunting and personal defense weapons, but he understands that reform is overdue.

The AK-47 and its kind have got to go.

Muslim Brandishes an AK-47 in Michigan

From a New York Times follow-up to the Hutaree bust, we learn that Matt Savino and his father, Jim Gulliksen, left, are Michigan Militia members. Mr. Savino provided a tip that led the authorities to fugitive Hutaree militia members. Mr. Savino, 34, is currently unemployed and was an assistant manager at a GNC nutrition store. He is a Navy veteran who converted to Islam in the late 1990s and believes that he is the only Muslim in the militia.

Estimates of statewide Michigan militia membership range from several hundred people to 500 or more. Mr. Savino and his father, also a Navy Veteran and  the local militia chapter’s chief executive officer say they have worked to distinguish the group from its past. “My goal is to get the militia name clean,” said Mr. Gulliksen, 60, who works as a manager in the paint and hardware department at the local Wal-Mart.

Perhaps they could begin by understanding the AK-47’s history.

“AK-47” is shorthand for “Avtomat Kalashnikova” (Kalashnikov automatic rifle), model of 1947. Mikhail Kalashnikov began his career as a weapon designer while in a hospital recovering from a war wound. The Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1947 proved to be simple and reliable and was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1949. Low manufacturing costs enabled the Soviet Union to supply client states with the AK-47. The Cold War saw the mass export of AK-47s by the Soviet Union and Communist China to pro-communist countries and groups such as the Nicaraguan  Sandinistas and Viet Cong.

The weapon has appeared in a number of conflicts including clashes in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. The AK-47 is now also made in Pakistan's semi-autonomous areas. The World Bank estimates that out of the 500 million total firearms available worldwide, 100 million are of the Kalashnikov family, and three-quarters of that number are AK-47s.

The AK-47 is included in the flags of Mozambique (left) and Hezbollah (below, yellow) and in Iranian Revolutionary Guards logo (below, blue) and has been used by nations and groups opposed to the United States, beginning with the Soviet Army, then Communist states during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The Soviet Union became the principal arms dealer to countries embargoed by the United States, including Syria, Libya and Iran. AK-47s have been more recently associated with the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq and FARC guerrillas in Colombia.

Private ownership of fully automatic AK-pattern rifles was regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. The Gun Control Act of 1968 ceased the import of foreign-manufactured fully automatic firearms for sale to civilians. An amendment to the Firearm Owners Protection Act in 1986 prohibited domestic manufacturing of fully automatic weapons for civilian use. Automatic weapons manufactured domestically prior to 1986 or imported prior to 1968 may be legally transferred between civilians.

The 1989 Semi-Automatic Rifle Import Ban and the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban specifically banned the AK-47 in the United States. When ban expired on September 13, 2004 due to Presidential inaction all domestically produced semi-automatic AK-47s became legal. The import of AK-47s with certain features is still banned. States such as California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have specific restrictions which effectively ban new purchases of many semi-automatic rifles.

Perhaps Mr. Savino and Mr. Gulliksen should ponder the 63 year history of the AK-47 and its use against United States armed services personnel in their quest to "get the militia name clean". They should reconsider their tacit endorsement of a weapon that appears on belligerent flags, as Mr. Savino appears in the picture holding a possibly made-in-America product that certainly represents anti-American hatred.

Hutaree Islamic Jihad

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What do you call people who actively plan armed attacks on American citizens? What do you call them if they plan to kill women and children? What do you call them if they sanctify murder in the name of God? (Given the history of Christianity, that last question is a bit silly).

Well, if they weren't white, poor and uneducated, you'd call them Islamic Jihadists. Three things make these losers different from their Jihadist compatriots: (1) they're white; (2) they speak English; (3) they're American citizens. When it comes to poor, uneducated and stupid, this bunch is totally simpatico.

Do you think their "Christian faith" makes them any different from the people who main and kill American soldiers? Let's see what the indictment says....

Since at least 2008, the HUTAREE has been meeting regularly to conduct military-style training in Lenawee County, located in the Eastern District of Michigan, and elsewhere. The purpose of this training has been to plan and prepare for the impending war with the HUTAREE's enemies. The general concept of operations provided that the HUTAREE would commit some violent " act to draw the attention of law enforcement or government officials and which would prompt a response by law enforcement. Possible such acts which were discussed included killing a member of law enforcement after a traffic stop, killing a member of law enforcement and his or her family at home, ambushing a member of law enforcement in rural communities, luring a member of law enforcement with a false 911 emergency call and then killing him or her, and killing a member of law enforcement and then attacking the funeral procession motorcade with weapons of mass destruction. These acts would intimidate and demoralize law enforcement diminishing their ranks and rendering them ineffective.

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Killing a family at home?

Murdering a policeman to create a funeral procession, as a target?

Do Christians do that?