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Steyr General Discussion
FYI: Steyr HS50 Sold to Iran used aginst Coalition *LINK*
Posted By: KYoon
Date: 2/13/07 12:53
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=JPKY4R41A1KIBQFIQMGCFF4AVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/02/13/wiran13.xml
Here's some sad news. The Steyr HS50, the bolt-action single-shot .50 cal rifle, is being supplied by Iran to insurgents in Iraq. Earlier fears and condemnation by US and UK of the Austrian government and Steyr seems to be founded. Some coalition forces troops have been wounded or killed by insurgents using .50 cals. Were they necessarily the Steyr rifles? I don't know, but apparently, more than 100 of the HS50s have been discovered by coalition forces in insurgent weapon's caches.
Does the old Steyr management share part of the blame? I don't know. Neither the Austrian government nor Steyr put the rifles in the hands of the insurgents, the Iranian government did. But is it reasonable to suspect that the Iranian government would make such a move to help the Shiites in Southern Iraq? In the civilian gun buying sector, what the Austrian government and Steyr did might be likened to selling firearms to a known gun runner. In other words, this would be known as a straw man purchase. At best, I think the Austrian government and Steyr showed a serious lack of judgement, especially in light of the well publicized threats by the Iranian president against the USA. One hopes that the new owners will exercise greater wisdom such as when Steyr refused to sell AUGs to the People's Republic of China (Communist China) back in the 1980s.
I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I don't know how long the link will remain valid. It just appeared in today's news.
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