Kalashnikov USA will build a $50 million facility for the manufacture and assembly of AK-47s at the Federal Correctional Institution in Bastrop, Texas
WASHINGTON, D.C. – (AP) The importation of Russian-made AK-47s was banned when the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russia for its role in the Ukraine rebellion. RWC, the official importer and distributor of Kalashnikov AK-47s, announced in January that it planned to manufacture and assemble American-made AK-47s. RWC said that Kalashnikov USA was looking for sites in several states.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a historic agreement between the Bureau of Prisons and Kalashnikov USA. Flanked by BOP Director Charles Samuels and RWC CEO Thomas McCrossin, Lynch revealed that Kalashnikov USA would build a $50 million facility on the grounds of the Federal Correctional Institution in Bastrop, Texas and that the AK-47s would be manufactured and assembled only by inmates imprisoned for nonviolent drug offenses. The plant expects to employ about 235 inmates who will be paid the federal minimum wage.
Lynch said that although she and President Obama want to prohibit the possession of any kind of military-style rifles or assault weapons by civilians, the President gave his approval for the agreement because Congress will not pass such a ban and this agreement will offer nonviolent drug offenders gainful employment opportunities when they are released.
BOP Director Charles Samuels said, “This agreement with Kalashnikov USA will add a new chapter to our federal prison industries. This partnership will enable our nonviolent drug offenders to become machinists when they leave FCI Bastrop.” Samuels added that the money they earn will be put in a Bastrop bank savings account which they cannot withdraw until they are released.
When asked if he foresaw any security problems with inmates assembling deadly firearms, Samuels said he saw little danger in that because the inmates would be closely monitored by correctional officers and by security cameras. Any inmate caught with an AK-47 part will be fired and placed in administrative segregation.
RWC CEO McCrossin said his company looked at several potential sites before it occurred to him to explore a partnership with the federal Bureau of Prisons. Paying the minimum wage to non-union employees means that Kalashnikov USA is guaranteed a good profit and that its AK-47s can be offered at a competitive price.
The White House released the following statement:
The agreement between the BOP and Kalashnikov USA in no way means that the President is relenting in his efforts to have Congress pass legislation that prohibits civilian ownership and possession of military-style rifles or assault weapons. But since Congress refuses to pass such legislation, the BOP might as well take advantage of the opportunities this agreement offers nonviolent drug offender inmates.
The President is deeply concerned that the nation’s prisons are full of nonviolent drug offenders, most of them African-Americans who, because they made some youthful mistakes, had their lives ruined by a discriminatory criminal justice system that is in dire need of reform.
During his recent visit to the federal prison in El Reno, Oklahoma, President Obama said, “When they [nonviolent drug offenders] describe their youth, these are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different from the mistakes I made, and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made. The difference is, they did not have the kind of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes. ... That's what strikes me — there but for the grace of God.”
This agreement gives the participating inmates that second chance by providing them with real job opportunities once they have been paroled or have received a presidential commutation.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Associated Press he was appreciative that Kalashnikov USA selected the “gun friendly Lone Star State” for the site of its new plant. But the governor also expressed strong reservations about building the plant inside a prison. “I would much rather have that plant built anywhere else in our state,” said Gov. Abbott, “so that it would employ law abiding Texans instead of a bunch of law breaking convicts.”
When contacted by the Associated Press, ATF Director B. Todd Jones said he would have no comment on the agreement. Not so with outgoing DEA head Michele Leonhart when she was contacted.
“The Obama administration has taken leave of its senses," said Leonhart. "First it wants to ban AK-47s and now it wants to manufacture them. You can bet that once those drug dealers get out of prison, some of them will obtain the very AK-47s they themselves manufactured. This is a really dumb deal!”
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