I NEWS 1
Israel May Lose
Millions From Uzi Ban
New York (JTA) — A federal
ban on semi-automatic
weapons could have a
devastating effect on the divi-
sion of Israel Military In-
dustries that manufactures
the Uzi, according to the sole
U.S. importer of the assault-
type rifle.
The Bush administration
moved in early July to ban
imports of assault weapons,
making permanent the tem-
porary ban it imposed in
March.
Chayim Stern, operations
manager of Actions Arms
Ltd. in Philadelphia, declined
to give a dollar figure or ex-
act number of the Uzis his
firm has sold.
But he said that as many as
100,000 of the guns have been
sold since Action Arms ob-
tained the patent for the
`I think the
message is clear:
If it's not good for
the United States,
it's also not good
for us.
semi-automatic version of the
Israeli-made firearm nine
year ago.
Stern said that the semi-
automatic version of the gun
used to sell for approximate-
ly $700 at the retail level, but
prices have zoomed to $1,500
to $2,000 per gun since the
temporary March ban was
announced.
Stern said Uzi sales have
come to "the millions of
dollars" since 1980.
Zvi Yoram, director of Israel
Military Industries-USA in
Chevy Chase, Md., also
declined to say how much
money the Israeli
government-run company
stands to lose due to the ban.
"Basically, we have to
honor the decisions which
have been taken, and then
manage to survive," Yoram
said. "I think the message is
clear: If it's not good for the
United States, it's also not
good for us."
According to Tom Hill, a
spokesman for the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms, the July ban affects
weapons that are thought to
be used for purposes other
than hunting and other "ap-
propriate purposes."
Guns fail the test if they
have a military appearance,
large magazine capacity or
are a semi-automatic version
of a machine gun.
The ban thus affects both
the Uzi carbine and the Galil-
type rifle, also manufactured
by Israel Military Industries
and distributed in North
America by Action Arms. The
Galil .22- caliber rifle is not
affected by the ban, he said.
The machine-gun version of
the Uzi has been banned
since 1986, said Hill.
Law enforcement groups
and advocates of gun control
hailed the government's an-
nouncement. They point out
that the compact Uzi has
become the weapon of choice
for drug dealers and inner- ci-
ty gangs.
Other weapons manufac-
tured by Israel Military In-
dustries will continue to be
imported and sold in the
United States, including the
Desert Eagle, a pistol
distributed by Magnum
Research in Minneapolis, and
the Sirkis pistol, imported by
Arms Corp. in Silver Spring,
Md.
Israel Military Industries
has until Aug. 7 to present ad-
ditional evidence as to why
the government should not
include the Uzi or Galil-type
weapons in the ban.
But speaking as the holder
of the exclusive import rights
to the Uzi, Stern said he is not
optimistic.
"It is not good news," he
said of the ban. "It could be
devastating as far as that par-
ticular division of IMI is con-
cerned. It certainly has a rip-
ple effect, and we know the
shape of the Israeli economy
in the first place."
Stern said that it was Ac-
tion Arms, owned by his
father, Harry, which first ap-
proached the Israelis nine
years ago with the idea of
marketing a "civilian ver-
sion" of their famed Uzi rifle.
He said the biggest percen-
tage of those buying the guns
are collectors, but others buy
them for target shooting, self-
defense and hunting,
although their use for hun-
ting had already been bann-
ed in many states.
Asked if he had any qualms
about selling an Israeli-made
weapon with such a notorious
reputation, Stern said, "Ab-
solutely none."
"Initially,
when you
started, you have some
doubts," he said. "But the
justification is the income we
generated for the State of
Israel. It's a legitimate
business. We are not
purveyors of anything il-
legal."
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