On Fox News, I just watched a Libyan woman in a headscarf firing her AK-47 out of an open car window, not at anything in particular, just randomly into the air, as far as I could see. I have only fired a gun once in a semi-enclosed space without hearing protection, when I simply forgot to put the hearing protectors back on (they look like big headphones). I couldn’t hear correctly for several hours after that, and that was only a small caliber handgun. I can’t imagine firing any high powered rifle in such circumstances without hearing protection.
From this, I conclude that most of the AK-47-shooting Arab world must be half-deaf.
That could be a good thing, in the case of terrorists. It should be easy for our soldiers to sneak up on them.
On the other hand, maybe the reason wife-beating is so prevalent in Arab Muslim circles is that the women can’t hear their husbands telling them what to do…. firing assault rifles out of open car windows without hearing protection will do that to you. Come to think of it, though, I’m not sure how smart it is to try to beat a woman who has access to an AK-47.
She might decide to fire the thing in a less random direction. It isn’t necessary to have good hearing to shoot straight.
Ammo must be really cheap in the middle east.
March 7th, 2011 8:27 am
You more likely saw an M-16. Smaller caliber, muzzle break, lots of experience and a little adrenaline mixed in usually keeps the ear damage and shoulder injury to a minimum. The old lady probably has a rifle range in her backyard. Half-torso situational enraged-husband-wielding-knife-type silhouette targets.
March 7th, 2011 9:41 am
I can identify an AK-47 or M-16 or M-4 or whatever at sight. It was clearly an AK-47.
Experience at shooting doesn’t ameliorate ear injury… it just makes it worse.
While I doubt she has a rifle range in her backyard (she probably doesn’t have a backyard), I like the idea of the target.