GIRSAN MC9

Black Sea Blaster on a Bargain-Basement Budget

- Tamara Keel

If we learned nothing else from the great warrior-poet Egon Spengler, PhD, in the movie Ghostbusters, it’s that crossing the streams would be very bad.

Yet the time period stretching from spring of 2020 until the early part of 2021 (at the very least) was practically defined by the crossing of two streams. The first stream was triggered by the tide of uncertainty caused by the events of the past year. The pandemic, marches and protests during the summer, tumult surrounding the election … all these factors led to a huge number of people experiencing a newfound worry about their physical security. This newfound worry was addressed by many people via running out and buying their first firearm.

The second stream was caused by the hard realities of commerce. Lockdowns affected supply chains around the globe, supply couldn’t keep up with demand, and shelves at gun stores were frequently emptied in surges of panic buying. Even when merchandise was in stock, scarcity drove pricing up, and that was assuming that the buyers weren’t affected by record unemployment in the pandemic lockdowns.

This is when alternate sources of supply can shine. If you’re on a budget and there’s a panic-driven shortage, anything affordable and in-stock can be a lifesaver when those streams get crossed.

BACKGROUND

Over the last half-decade or so, the Turkish firearms industry has exploded in prominence as one of these alternate sources, going from a source for a few older Beretta or CZ clones to fairly fully fleshed-out range of license-built copies of foreign handguns as well as original domestic designs.