Tag Archives: south korea m1

Bringing the M1’s back from the ROK

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m1 garand

A House measure introduced last week would override the Obama-era State Department’s embargo on thousands of M1 Carbines and Garands long blocked from import.

The legislation comes as the latest installment in an effort by Republican lawmakers to change the 2009 decision to block the importation of no less than 87,000 rifles donated to South Korea and now surplus to that country’s needs.

“These M1 models represent a significant piece of our military history and should be available to collectors in America to the extent that other legal firearms of the same make are routinely bought and privately owned,” said bill sponsor, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., in a statement.

More in my column at Guns.com

Lawmaker seeks to open the floodgate of South Korean M1 imports

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Universal Soldier by Tim Page showing a ROK marine in vietnam after combat. Note the M1 Garand, the South Koreans have over 87,000 of these in arsenal storage that they have been trying to sell to a U.S. importer since 2009

Universal Soldier by Tim Page showing a ROK marine in Vietnam after combat. Note the M1 Garand, the South Koreans have over 87,000 of these in arsenal storage that they have been trying to sell to a U.S. importer since 2009

A measure introduced this week to the U.S. House of Representatives is looking to override the State Department-imposed blockade on thousands of M1 Carbines and Garands coming home from Korea.

The move comes as the latest installment in an effort by Republican lawmakers to force change in the administration’s 2009 decision to block the importation of no less than 87,000 rifles donated to South Korea that are now surplus to that country’s needs.

Previous attempts launched in past sessions to free-up the guns failed to gain traction, however with recent GOP gains in Congress and a seemingly lame duck president in the twilight of his term, one representative isn’t giving up.

The rest over in my column at Guns.com

Keep the State Dept out of Gun Control

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For more than two years, the South Korean government has been trying to give back a shipload of military rifles we loaned them
in the 1950s. This includes thousands of M1 Garand and M1 Carbines that are craved by collectors in the US. The thing is, the
State Department is refusing to let them come home.

Back in 2010, the current administration through the State Department blocked the purchase of 87,310 M1 Garands and 770,160 M1 Carbines in the ROK by a US importer, saying the American-made antique rifles could “potentially be exploited by individuals seeking firearms for illicit purposes.”

These guns were originally loaned to the South Korean military in the 1950s and 60s then sold outright, making them property of
the Republic of Korea. Since the ROK has been producing their own weapons for a generation and no longer needs these vintage
guns, they tried to sell them to an importer who wanted to bring them back to the states. Then, the word came down that the
import would be blocked. Even though there was some glimmers of hope over the past three years that these stranded guns
would be somehow allowed to go home, the ‘reimportation’ or these guns has been specifically banned by Executive Order in
September.

Well,  a hopeful Congresswoman is fighting it.

m1 garand
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk.com

New Executive Order Could Kill CMP

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President Obama has decreed in his latest set of executive orders that he is cracking down on gun violence by forbidding historic US made relics from coming back into the country for collectors.

The White House, in an effort to “ban almost all re-imports of military surplus firearms to private entities” is preparing an executive order against these guns coming back into the country.

“Even as Congress fails to act on common-sense proposals, like expanding criminal background checks and making gun trafficking a federal crime, the president and vice president remain committed to using all the tools in their power to make progress toward reducing gun violence,” the White House said.

800px-Infantryman_in_1942_with_M1_Garand,_Fort_Knox,_KY
(This is about the closest thing we could find to a M1 Garand being used in a drive-by shooting)
Read the rest in my column at Firearms Talk