SKS is not an AK47
Continuing the meme of If you tell the lies often enough, they become true, JoinTogether issued a press release regarding the three police officers killed that I discussed here. At least they waited a couple of days before dancing on their graves. The release says (in part):
CeaseFire Maryland, Along with over 800 Local Police Chiefs and Sheriffs around the Country, Calls on Congress and President Bush to Renew and Strengthen the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that Sunsets Sept. 13th, 2004
Baltimore, MD – Three police officers were shot to death yesterday when they approached a house in Birmingham Alabama to serve warrants. The bullet proof vests the officers were issued were no match for the SKS assault rifle, named by officials as the weapon used in the killing. The SKS rifle is a copycat of the AK 47 assault rifle. It is cited by the ATF as the rifle most frequently used to kill law enforcement officers and is readily available in the US despite the current federal assault weapons ban.
The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban prohibited the manufacture, transfer, and possession of 19 specific semi-automatic assault weapons, such as AK-47s, AR15s, and UZIs. However, the gun industry immediately began to evade the law by making minor cosmetic changes to assault weapons, renaming them, and marketing them as “copycat” models. “Copycat” assault weapons are functionally identical to those banned by the 1994 law, which is why the assault weapons ban must also be strengthened.
Emphasis added. The SKS is not a copycat of the AK47. It is a completely separate Chinese design that takes fixed magazines (i.e., the magazine is not detached from the gun but is loaded by inserting round into the gun itself). Since it doesn’t accept detachable magazines, the SKS is not affected by the ban.
And just to repeat this pearl of wisdom: [the SKS] is cited by the ATF as the rifle most frequently used to kill law enforcement officers and is readily available in the US despite the current federal assault weapons ban. The SKS is popular because it is cheap and plentiful. It is unaffected by the ban. This is akin to saying more people are killed by Hondas because there are a lot Hondas out there.
Update: The SKS is actually a Russian design. It was used in China and in Vietnam.
June 22nd, 2004 at 7:45 am
One nitpick: The SKS is not a Chinese design. It is a Russian design that pre-dates the AK-47.
The weapons do fire the same ammo, which I guess is why they’re confused, although to me that’s like saying the 1903 Springfield is a copycat of the Garand.
June 22nd, 2004 at 7:57 am
Also, I call BS on the claim that the SKS is the “rifle most frequently used to kill law enforcement officers.” I want to see the data.
If it’s true, then the VPC’s anti-assault-weapon screed Officer Down needs to be updated. According to their data, from 198 until 2001 the AR-15 was the champion cop-killer, with 9 incidents (true, the SKS is runner-up with 8).
Of course, in the same period, 15 officers with killed with their own weapons. Where is the call for banning those cop-killing cop guns?
June 22nd, 2004 at 7:57 am
Aww jeez…that smiley is NOT intentional. It is supposed to be the numeral 8 followed by a close-paren.
June 22nd, 2004 at 8:30 am
Similarities: both are short-stroke gas piston operated, both fire the 7.62×39 round, and both were designed in the Soviet Union in the 1940s.
And, if equipped with aftermarket Bubba items such as a folding stock and extended magazine, an SKS can look a lot like and AK, especially if said SKS is one of the Chinese paratroop versions.
But the reporter is just parrotting the grabbers’ line, and not even bothering to do any sort of fact checking.
June 22nd, 2004 at 11:44 am
You know, this reminds me of the “SKA” rifles the Italians seized in April (Which Say Uncle covered, of course). SKA? Did they mean SKS or maybe AKS? The AKS-47 is, IIRC, the paratrooper version of the AK-47.
So maybe these idiots are thinking AKS. Or maybe they’re thinking of the SAR-1, which IS an AK-47 knock-off.
June 22nd, 2004 at 1:30 pm
Another source of confusion for these poor ignorant gun-haters could be that there’s an AKS-47 (paratrooper model), there’s the elusive terrorist-grad SKA assault weapon, and there’s the SAR-1, which is indeed a “copy-cat” of the AK-47
June 22nd, 2004 at 6:38 pm
It ain’t my day.