Whatever happened to the Uzi?

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BBQJOE

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When I was much younger, all the talk was about Uzi's.
I seem to remember people losing it, and using them to wreak havoc, or commit crimes.
Of course they were full auto's. I don't remember them being legal at any point, or were they back in the past before certain laws were enacted?
Anyway, the media was all over them much like they are now over "assault" weapons.
Where did they go?
Did they all go under ground? We're they somehow collected and destroyed?

It might be interesting to trace back what happened then, and maybe learn something.
 
As I recall, Uzi importation was restricted by George H. W. Bush. All of their semi-auto rifles were essentailly banned from being imported into the USA at that time. I saw an ad for a 22 and perhaps that may be coming. They seem to be more of a symbol than anthing particularly different from other semi-auto rifles.
 
In the late '60s I worked construction overseas, in the part of the world I was in the Uzi was everywhere.
I think they've just been eclipsed by more modern designs.
 
Its been manufactured in the US too and if they were popular I have no doubt you would see a lot of them around. The fact is they just fell from favor. They are offer no real advantage over either a pistol or a rifle so people tend to pick an alternative. I would suspect that people who would have been inclined to buy an UZI years ago are much more inclined to buy and AR or an AK47 today.
 
After Bush senior restricted importation, they became a collectors item of sorts here. The Carbines with the folding stock were very popular for legal conversion to full auto bolt guns. They are pretty well made. I purchased a carbine at about the time of the ban and it rapidly increased in value. I sold it because I wasn't interested in "collecting" something like that and the accuracy was not particularly great for a rifle. They were however very cool rifles. My expectatios were probably not reasonable considering it was a 9mm "rifle".
 
The UZI pistol is supposed to be coming along with the Tavor,sorry no full size or mini-uzis. I saw the uzi pistol at 2013 SHOT and it has been updated with left side cocking and a rail on top,polymer lower,and US style mag release.
No more imports after Bush SRs 1989 import EO. Mossberg(Uzi America) tried brokering a deal later in the 1990s to sell Uzis and Galils but it never emerged.


http://www.iwi.us/
 
I guess I'm thinking more about the stigma, than the firearm itself.
I'm sure there are probably plenty still in collectors safes and all.

Was the stigma a fad that came and went?
Was the stigma lost when a ban was put in place?
Or did people just forget?

Again, I seem to remember OMG!!!!! He has an Uzi!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Is there something that happened with that "fearsome" weapon that we can apply positively right now to squelch this fear that is gripping the public?
 
I fired a full auto Uzi, and then a full-auto MP5 at a rental range in Las Vegas late last year. No comparison... I felt that the MP5 was far and way the better of the two.
 
Was the stigma a fad that came and went?
Was the stigma lost when a ban was put in place?
Or did people just forget?
Here's a couple of threads that explore the real underlying answer:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=679885
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=688298

The long and the short of it is that time passed, weapon development continued, and the Uzi just faded from public memory. Back in the 60s and 70s, and early 80s, every bad guy (movie or real), Mossad agent, SEAL team member, secret service man, high-security guard, drug smuggler, and Bond villain carried the universal Uzi. They were front and center in the public eye (which means television, of course) every day on the news and every evening at the movies. Every "gun violence" news article used the Uzi for its stock clip art image back then. Even if the story was "local man killed with a muzzle-loader," there'd be an Uzi up on the screen over the anchorman's right shoulder. :D

Then H&K's MP5 stole their spotlight by having better ergos and cachet. The MP5 was suddenly the gun to have, and the Uzi was passe.

But in the last couple of decades the whole heyday of the submachine gun has ended. Further weapon development has showed the almost universal superiority of the short Assault Rifle/carbine to the pistol-caliber subgun, so even the MP5 and its brethren have faded from the collective mass consciousness. Since few of our enemies (or friends) bother with them, the public just doesn't think about them -- and so loses their specific fear of them.

Submachine guns have largely dropped off the radar as they have been mostly supplanted by the more compact assault rifles for almost all military and police uses.

There are still a few interesting true submachine guns being developed and made (H&K UMP, Steyr TMP, Kriss Super V, etc.) but they really aren't getting nearly the use and attention that the Uzi and MP-5 did from the '60s through the '80s, or the Sterlings, M3s, Thompsons, Stens, Swedish K/Port Said/76, PPSh, etc. did in earlier times.

Once groups realized that an M-4 sized assault rifle could do everything a sub gun was good for, but a lot more besides, the calls for them seem to have dried up.
 
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Due to Obama all guns and ammo are hard to come by now days.


Really? I thought it was because of all the panic buying by those that were previously unprepared. I was under the impression there has been no recent legislation or executive orders directly leading to the shortage......only the recent hoarding and buying of everything in sight by those with the fear they will never be able to get it again. I have been buying guns and ammo for 50 years. Since I started reloading I have been buying enough when it's available so I always have some. Last time my wife was in the reloading room she commented that I probably had enough stuff to last me till I die.....I told her that was the idea. I have all the guns and ammo I'll probably ever need. If you and others don't, the blame is not Obama's....at least not at the moment. If folks don't like the prices and the supply at their LGS, they only need to look in the mirror to know who to blame. Not only because of their panic buying, but because of who they voted for and put into a position of power.

To get back on topic, the Uzi was one of those firearms whose time came and went. It's shortcomings helped to produce better weapons and thus we have moved on, similar to the Gremlin and the Pacer automobiles from the same era........
 
Really? I thought it was because of all the panic buying by those that were previously unprepared. I was under the impression there has been no recent legislation or executive orders directly leading to the shortage......only the recent hoarding and buying of everything in sight by those with the fear they will never be able to get it again.
Of course...and that's related to Obama's continued term in office and public statements by his office, administration, and party regarding their intents and wishes.

But let's not get off topic with that. The discussion here is of the decline and fall of the Uzi as a perceived public menace.
 
Again, I seem to remember OMG!!!!! He has an Uzi!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I'm willing to bet the media used it as a generic term like "AR-15" and "glock" today to describe any firearm that looks remotely like it.....

Eventually they found a new poster child for "gun violence".
 
The H&K MP-5 and FN P-90 made them obsolete.
And, in turn, the M-4 made those obsolete for most purposes.

Actually, the P-90 has a very specialized role that is so limited as to be a statistical non-entity, but as it follows the M-4 chronologically, it can only be said to have been made obsolete by the M-4 retroactively.
 
Axl Rose's vanity record label was "Uzi Suicide".

It's all just media smoke-n-mirrors, and the popular scapegoat of the day. If nothing, it's a guide on how things work, and why old folks are jaded, having "been there, and done that" through several cycles of BS. Look up "global cooling", for instance.

similar to the Gremlin and the Pacer automobiles from the same era...

I've never owned an AMC, but it seems unfair to pick both your examples from their stable. I daresay you could ride a BMW and Mercedes of that era, and find it crude and cranky by modern standards.
 
This query about Uzi brings back a few memories... On my "senior trip" to ARVN land, you could always spot the guys who worked for one nameless agency or other since (you guessed it) they were sporting Uzis...

Considering they were first designed for full auto CQB assault they were tops when they first came out (I don't think there was anything comparable at the time). That was a pretty good while before the popular press noticed them. I'd expect that actual pattern of publicity for each new weapon initially designed for serious business but later popularized by movies and the press....
 
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I've never owned an AMC, but it seems unfair to pick both your examples from their stable. I daresay you could ride a BMW and Mercedes of that era, and find it crude and cranky by modern standards.

I used them because at the time they were very popular and advertised as the future of automobiles. Now they are considered junk and are used regularly in movie and TV comedies to depict the same. Very similar to the handheld calculators and digital watches of the same time. Once, very expensive and cool. Now they are given away as advertising, like ball point pens.....while at the same time a late sixties or early seventies Mercedes or BMW would be a prized classic. Like I said, the shortcomings of the Uzi and the want of something better has brought us better firearms here and now.

BTW......there are two AMC vehicles in my driveway right now.
 
Of course...and that's related to Obama's continued term in office and public statements by his office, administration, and party regarding their intents and wishes.

But let's not get off topic with that. The discussion here is of the decline and fall of the Uzi as a perceived public menace.

I know, I did drift a little bit, but if you read the whole post you did see my opinion on the demise of the UZI....I did try to get back on topic.:)

I'm just tired of folks blaming others for their lack of preparedness. In the reloading forum yesterday I posted about buying 12# of powder and 8000 primers at a small gunsmithing shop in a rural town, not because I needed them, but because they had them for Pre-Frenzy prices. They were never gonna be cheaper. I will probably not live long enough to use all of them, but my two boys will, and I don't have to pay thru the nose or worry about running out. Odds are I wouldn't run out even if I hadn't bought them. Waiting till now to stockpile ammo and look for a desireable furearm is no different than waiting till after the ice storm to go out and buy salt, or waiting till after the hurricane hits to look for a generator. Sorry, but it seems folks that are unprepared always have someone else to blame.
 
I had an Uzi made by IMI
In MI the government made it illegal to own semi-auto that had a folding stock unless it was welded open.
It had to have a 19" barrel --- no 19" barrels were made.
As mine had a folding stock & 2" & 16 " barrel it was illegal.

The gun was a talking point---not good for much--10# empty-it was heavy
The gun as semi-auto was basically useless.
My kids were mad as----- when I sold it--I got tired loading 9 MM ammo as they liked to fire 32 every 4 seconds---it was fast for a semi-auto.
 
H&k mp-5

The first reason was the MP-5 and then all others that came after.

And yes I agree that the M-4 variants are the best reason for the decline of the Uzi.

I had a semi auto in the 1980's and it was ok [ JUST ok s'all ] and nothing to get excited about past 50 yards.

I did get to play with a local P.D.'s REAL Uzi and that too was ok,nothing too exciting.

Unless you just like to spray and pray.Accurate enough but not my first ----- or even second choice for a close encounter.

They [ along with all others firearms ] are shown in movies as being THE answer to every shot and never running dry.

I class that and the reason for its demise as urban legend come to reality check.
 
Designs changed over time, and the Uzi fell off the list of "must-have" cool type weapons.

Mine still works fine though. You just pull the trigger and the bullets come out the front end. It's about a simple of a weapon as can be built. It is one heavy mother though for a 9mm. I'm sure it will outlast me for sure.
 
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