State Department to Reconsider Importing Korean Garands

I will be fully in favor. It might hurt gun makers a little but they should not be lobbying against it even so.
 
Well I'd like to see it.

It's the "SELL" part that gets me. One must understand that the CMP does not BUY guns. The guns the CMP sells are surplus the military had turned over to them.

So if ROK sells the M1s to us, then the CMP wont be involved. They will be bought by a Importer which is OK to a point,

It they are turned back, like the ones from Greese and other countries then CMP will probably be involved. I think that would be a better option for one looking for a Garand.

BUT: Importers are required to mark their imports (CMP isn't). So your Korean M1 will be stamped with the Importers Name and the Importer will add another serial number (Look at your Mosins).

If you just want a shooter, then the import marks shouldn't bother you, if you want a collector, then the marks will degrade the value.

Also if they are sold to an importer, I bet you'll see the prices would be higher then what the CMP sells their Garands for.

The article talks about M1s, but what about the M1 Carbines. If they are included then that would be great because the CMP is out of Carbines (except for some high priced auction peaces). Even with the import marks if you don't have one, Grab the Carbines is they are available.

If you're waiting for Korea to release the guns so you can get a M1, why not just go to the CMP and buy one, they still have thousands. There is really no reason not to have a Garand.
 
That is a good point. With this being America and Government sponsored capitalism being the rule of the day one wonders if someone cut a deal with state department to get the guns in as an exclusive importer. The contract would be worth tens of millions.
 
Yeah, giving away all of those Garands was a really stupid idea at the taxpayer's expense. Our Govt. never seems to learn from its own stupidity.
 
It has been pretty well documented that the Garands that are in the Korean are rack grade or below. They are not collector grade rifles. I would love to see them come in anyway.
 
Yeah, giving away all of those Garands was a really stupid idea at the taxpayer's expense.
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It wasn't all that stupid at the time. The goal was to prevent the PRC and DPRK from immediately invading the ROK when we pulled most of our troops out after 1953. :)

In 20/20 hindsight, quite a few American strategies during the Cold War were really stupid ideas at the taxpayers' expense (ahem, Bay of Pigs, cough), but the stakes were extremely high, there often wasn't a clearly better alternative at the time, and hindsight is always 20/20. ;)
It has been pretty well documented that the Garands that are in the Korean are rack grade or below. They are not collector grade rifles.
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I seem to remember another longtime forum member describing them as something like "broken metal tubing with bits of busted wood attached". ;)
 
Those items belong to the citizens of the United States and were 'lent' to our allies.

They, as well as surplus ammunition, should go through a 'not for profit' organization such as the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

salty
 
Those items belong to the citizens of the United States and were 'lent' to our allies.
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AFAIK the ROK Garands were given to the Koreans outright, unlike virtually every other 20th-century US military weapon transfer.

This is why their reimportation has proven to be so difficult. They would have to go through a commercial importer rather than the CMP, and that importer would need permission.
 
I think one of the problems is that they were trying to charge us for them even though they were always ours. You don't borrow your buddy's lawnmower than charge his kids to get it back
 
this would be nice if they did but I could understand the fact that they were given and not sold. That is understandable
 
They were given as donations to the ROK as military aid unlike the guns lent to some of our European allies. If they want to sell them back, fine. I'm just glad the South Koreans are wanting to sell them, instead of scrapping them and melting them into anti-U.S. statues, which, considering the current political climate in our erstwhile ally, would have not seemed out of the question. But the fact is these guns were probably rode hard and put away wet by ROK conscripts.
 
I think one of the problems is that they were trying to charge us for them even though they were always ours. You don't borrow your buddy's lawnmower than charge his kids to get it back
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The situation is more akin to this scenario.

Your neighbor gave you his lawnmower several decades ago. No strings attached- not a loan- he said it belongs to YOU now.

You used it for a few years, but it was getting worn out and wasn't working very well anymore, so you bought a new one but stored the old one in your shed.

Fast forward to today. Your neighbor's grandkids ask if they can buy the lawnmower back because it reminds them of dear old Granddad. You say sure, after all, you have no use for it and you could use the cash!

However... the grandkids' father says "No, you can't sell it to them, they're just kids and they might hurt themselves with it."

Are you with me now? ;)
 
State Department to Reconsider Importing Korean Garands

Obama looking for some brownie points with gun owners? It would be interesting to know why this change of direction.
 
I thought the federal government loaned them, not the citizens. But I hope they are still our allies because my niece lives in Korea and my future son-in-law is there in the Air Force. My extended family seems to have connections everywhere.
 
WVsig said:
It has been pretty well documented that the Garands that are in the Korean are rack grade or below. They are not collector grade rifles. I would love to see them come in anyway.
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Having seen the imported M1 Carbines that have shown up in places like Big 5 Sproting Goods I'm not getting excited about the Garands either. I do wish the M1911A1 pistols would arrive however, because even if they're a bit rough I could probably turn one or two into a decent shooter. Of course fat chance ever seeing the handguns come in, because I believe they're specifically prohibited by law being ex-US military.
 
There's an ulterior motive at work here as you can bet they aren't "reconsidering" based on their oath to the Constitution or out of the goodness of their cold, black hearts. :mad:
 
OK, I give up. What does the constitution say about the government selling rifles to citizens that had previously been in the hands of a foreign army?
 
I know this thread is a month old, but I saw this update that has not been mentioned before that I know of.

According to http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/01/113_103154.html the group of rifles has been approved.

Quote from above link:
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.
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