Non-political question about proposed sale of Korean M1s

[John R.]

One SMALL but nonetheless SIGNIFICANT point here !

I see all and sundry bandying the words "LEND LEASE" about with wild abandon !

Let's bring a little CLARITY into play here !

THE ONLY "LEND LEASE" Garands etc were those supplied to the United Kingdom aka The Brits on FDR's say so ! ALL OTHER Garands,Carbines,M1911A1's etc etc & etc were supplied under various Military Assistance Programmes(MAP's).

NEXT.."RE-IMPORT" NOT TO BE PEDANTIC HERE... BUT.....PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME JUST HOW ONE"RE-IMPORTS" anything ? Small Arms were EXPORTED to various countries under Military Assistance Programmes and IF they are "returned to sender" as it were, they would be IMPORTED.
To be "RE-IMPORTED" they would need to be EXPORTED AGAIN so as to be "RE-IMPORTED".

In actual FACT hundreds of thousands of M1 Garands and Carbines were SOLD to various US Client States and are in NO WAY subject to being returned GRATIS to the US of A.YET, you have this forever vociferous group here and on the CSP and CMP Forums who keep harping that EVERYTHING MUST be returned so the Glorious CMP can flog them at inflated prices.

One good case in point is the Philippines.They received no end of US Small Arms IN LIEU OF RENT for the former US Military Bases at Clark and Subic Bay.They have literally HUNDREDS of Thousands of Garands and Carbines and no bloody end of other neat toys that go bump in the night.YET,you see the US Army trying to convince them that it would be just ducky if they were to graciously just GIVE as in GRATIS/NO PAYMENT to be given, all of it back so the US Army in turn can SELL the rifles to the CMP.The Filipinos just LAUGH at this nonsense I might add.They KNOW that the small arms in question were offered IN LIEU OF RENT so they OWN them and aren't about to "GIVE" anything back.It would be tantamount to their returning all the rent money AFTER the US had full use of the bases in question from 1945 until the 90's.NOT going to happen !!

So PUHLEEZE let's be a little more accurate vis a vis the "Lend Lease" bit and"RE-importation" and who OWNS what and won't be "RETURNING" anything so the CMP can gouge anyone wanting a Garand.YES.I have heard ad infinitum this bit about how the CMP use the money to further the cause of shooting etc too.Every time I see them"AUCTIONING" anything that is in ANY way out of the ordinary I just shake my head in wonder.

WHY a LICENCED importer can't get a Form 6(ATF/State Dept) Import Permit and then bring COMPETITION into play i.e., LOWER PRICES is contrary to the principals of FREE ENTERPRISE.Playing this"we don't import the rifles"routine to death the way they do is a bad joke !Let TAX PAYING LICENCED IMPORTERS have a chance too.

Now we'll see no end of CMP sycophants come running out of the weeds throwing rocks etc .

JR