#IraqiWar

In Part One of this article, I shared my experiences after visiting gun stores in Baghdad, and it is not what most people expect to see in Iraq. Gun stores are small and cramped, with a relatively limited choice of firearms and really high prices. Thankfully, things in Iraqi Kurdistan are way different.

More than once, when I argued about gun control with different people, I heard the same argument: “If you want to have your precious “assault weapons” – go live in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Somalia, they have no gun laws, you’ll be happy there owning your silly weapons of war”. However, after working in those places for a while, I realized that all of the above-mentioned countries have extremely restrictive gun laws. And Iraq is perhaps the best example of that.

Back in the 1970s-1980s, VHS was immediately associated with a Video Home System (thus, the name) created in Japan by the JVC company and which became highly popular worldwide. Nowadays, however, most people probably don’t even know what I’m talking about here on TFB. However, there’s a VHS 5.56x45mm bullpup rifle that is being used in the Iraqi War. Made in Croatia by a company called VH Produkt d.o.o. founded in 1991, whose main production facilities are now located in Karlovac, the VHS rifles are currently in official use by the Croatian Armed Forces. In December 2016, TFB showed ( http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2016/10/21/vhs-k2-bullpup-iraq/) a single picture of the VHS in use by Iraqi Forces, with added details, via the manufacturer website, of the different rifle versions being brought to view. We have now obtained additional images of the VHS-D2 model (500mm barrel, 850mm overall length with extended stock) in the hands of Iraqi forces (Police and Security) during recent combat actions in Mosul.