TOW #15 - Disneyland for Gun Lovers: Inside the Notorious Darra Adam Khel Arms Market

     In a section of Pakistan, where the nation's laws are not normally applied, all imaginable types of guns are freely being sold to customers at an alarmingly cheap price. The town of Darra Adam Khel has become notorious for its knockoff gun business. Despite army crackdowns, the gun market is booming in the area as civilians as well as army men near the Afghan border are constantly seeking for weapons. In "Disneyland for Gun Lovers: Inside the Notorious Darra Adam Khel Arms Market", Wajahat Khan of NBC News reveals the surprising world of the open gun sale.
     For most citizens living in the United States, a lawless area devoted to a gun business that requires no paperwork, license or background checks is almost unheard of. Khan hooks the Americans' audience by opening the article asking, "Want to knock-off Beretta or AK-47 that's "guaranteed" to be as good the original at a fraction of cost?"  Khan goes on to illustrate a shocking area of the world that is considered as one of the most violent regions of the globe. Also known as "no-man's land", the infamous Darra Adam Khel is depicted as a mysterious territory with little to no regulations.
      Not only does Khan paint the scene of the dangerous region, but also incorporates primary sources in the report through interviews with the gun-makers themselves. Functioning guns that are being sold for the fraction of the cost of real licensed guns are taking the breaths of Americans as revealed in an interview, "'I can copy anything,' Orakzai says, ticking off a list that includes Turksih Zigana pistols, American Beretta handguns, and Chinese 30-caliber weapons, 'We guarantee our copies to be as good as the original. A guarantee of it working when you need it to'". Through the eyes of most US civilians, expensive gun replicas that are easily being distributed is an unimaginable. Not only are the replicas cheap, but they are just as effective as the original guns, which in turn may make Darra Adam Khel seem like a whole another world to Americans. Although guns are common items to many Americans, a "Disneyland for Gun Lovers" is an eye opening scenery to most. Through a clear depiction of the hazardous area of Darra Adam Khel and the words of the businessmen themselves, Khan vividly illustrates an unheard of society for Americans living halfway around the globe.

link: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/disneyland-gun-lovers-inside-notorious-darra-adam-khel-arms-market-n702236