The Firearm Blog

Xavier spotted the following on change.gov, the official president-elect website:

As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.

It also looks like the Obama administration will likely support the proposed UN arms trade treaty. From the LA Times (November 1, 2008):

In a United Nations General Assembly vote, 147 of its 192 members voted in favor of creating a global treaty that would impose rules on the import, export and transfer of weapons among nations. Only the U.S., long an opponent of such a treaty, and Zimbabwe voted against the idea. Arms exporters such as China, Russia and Israel showed their reluctance over the regulations by abstaining; other nations were absent.

I think it is also safe to say that Obama will not lift the import ban on Chinese/Norinco arms. If you want that Type 97 bullpup you are going to have to move to Canada!

Paraguay has apparently bought the relatively new Norinco CQ 5.56, M4A1 clones.

The caption of the above photo, translated from Spanish:

Soldiers of the Joint Detachment of Empleo Inmediato (DECEI) marching past with carbines Norinco CQ-M4 of 5.56 mm Are copies of Colt M-4A1 made in China and equipped with viewfinders of not known model. The DECEI depends on the Commando of Special Troops of the Army.

According to Wikipedia:

This variant introduced in the year 2006 in several Defense expos worldwide, including the MILIPOL, is a copy of the American M4A1 assault carbine. It features a telescoping stock, a removable carrying handle mounted on a Picatinny rail, and a 368,3 millimetres (14,5 inches) barrel. The CQ Type A carbine variant is claimed to be able to stabilize both M193 “Ball” and SS-109/M-885 variants of the 5.56 mm cartridge, as would be expected from a rifle with a 1:9 barrel rifling twist. It will quickly accept the installation of grenade launchers due to the quick attachment/detachment handguard design and to the step-cut barrel.

H/T: china police @ MP.net

MilitaryPhotos.net has some interesting photos of the Chinese International Criminal Police Organization.

Some interesting suppressed AKs, they look like AK-103’s but could be something else, and what is probably a Norinco CQ (M16A1 clone) or CQ-M4 (you guessed it, an M4 clone).

Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if these were airsofters (btw, I have nothing against airsoft).

I came across a PDF, with no date or author, about the history of the Chinese M14 clones. It is a very interesting read!

UPDATE: H2O MAN in the comments below let me know that the text comes from “M14 Rifle History and Development” by Lee Emerson. Thanks H2O MAN.

A persistent rumor states that M14 rifles produced by the People’s Republic of China were reverse engineered from enemy captured M14 rifles in Viet Nam. China North Industries Corporation, known as Norinco, is reported to have produced M14 rifles by the early 1970s. The story continues that 100,000 Chinese M14 rifles were produced for an armed revolution in the Philippines. In preparing for this work, the author interviewed a very reliable source with extensive firsthand knowledge of Chinese and Taiwanese production and export of small arms was interviewed for this work. This gentleman wishes not to be identified. He is referred to as Other Source # 12.

Chapter 6 contains the History of the Chinese M14 Clones. The PDF can be downloaded here.