“Why not? I think it’s a good thing from Russia, good souvenir,” says Artyom Baranowsky, manager of the first Kalashnikov concept store in Russia. That’s AK-47, the famed Russian rapid-fire assault rifle that has made its manufacturer, Kalashnikov, a worldwide name. As a physician, I have witnessed the destruction this weapon can wreak on human flesh. This gun is now found throughout the world, including in the hands of many American civilians, who in 2012 bought as many AK-47s as the Russian police and military. Originally developed in secrecy for the Soviet military, an estimated 100 million AK-47s and their iris variants have been produced to date. The Kalashnikov is Russia, and Russia is the Kalashnikov. Next to that are racks of kids’ T-shirts printed with “I Love AK.”
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Travelers killing time at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport are curious as they duck into a shop with a gun rack on the wall and a cabinet full of pistols near the cash register.
It may be the only place in the world that will sell you guns at the airport instead of taking them away. The boutique sells high-end replicas that cost almost as much as the real thing-alongside survival gear, tote bags, and “I ♥ AK”
AK-47 assault rifle-maker Kalashnikov, the notorious favorite of rebels and warlords alike, is going mainstream with a boutique at the terminal connected to Moscow’s main airport, Sheremetyevo. It is the centerpiece of artwork in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is the focal point of a museum in Izhevsk, Russia. It has killed those who opposed the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the Taliban in Afghanistan. It has been handcrafted in Pakistan and mass-produced in Russia.
This weapon has been in the hands of men, women, and children in Serbia, Sudan, Iraq, Nigeria, India, and Iran. Type “AK 47” into a library database and books on almost every revolution from the late 20th century will appear. And in third world revolutions across the world, it has been fired. This gun can be fired by any man, woman, or child. It is effective, light, portable, reliable – and no military expertise is required to use it (AK47). AK 47 can hit a target 2,000 feet away in one second.
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