Back in March, President Obama signed Executive Order 13661, “Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine”.
Yesterday, the Secretary of the Treasury expanded exactly what that means by adding additional interests to the list. It was bound to happen, and now Concern Kalashnikov is on that Office of Foreign Assets Control list.
KALASHNIKOV CONCERN (a.k.a. CONCERN KALASHNIKOV; a.k.a. IZHEVSKIY MASHINOSTROITEL’NYI ZAVOD OAO; f.k.a. IZHMASH R&D CENTER; f.k.a. JSC NPO IZHMASH; f.k.a. NPO IZHMASH OAO; a.k.a. OJSC CONCERN KALASHNIKOV; f.k.a. OJSC IZHMASH; f.k.a. SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION IZHMASH JOINT STOCK COMPANY), 3, Derjabin Pr., Izhevsk, Udmurt Republic 426006, Russia; Registration ID 1111832003018 [UKRAINE2].
There’s a whole slew of companies and individuals on the list so the Obama Administration didn’t single them out, but this will those involved in the AK enthusiast market.
This has been anticipated by that community. The guns in the country are the guns in the country. I’m sure panic buying will ensue. If you already own one, you can sell it, free and clear. But if Kalashnikov or another individual or company listed on the OFAC list has a stake in it, then you need to contact OFAC. This should only be a concern to importers who might be selling on consignment.
To be sure, a friend in the region, Ukraine, is struggling with a Russian-backed insurgency. In response, the President of the United States decided to use the economic element of national power as leverage against Russia to encourage them to lay off.
Consider the importation of guns from Russia into the US as collateral damage. A ban on the importation of Kalashnikovs from Russia would not have been possible without new laws, stemming from legislation in Congress. But a crisis such as the one in the Ukraine is a convenient opportunity that can’t be passed up by an Administration that likes to take unilateral, executive action to further its aims.
