The Gun (92 page)

Washington Daily News,
307
–8

Washington Post,
92
,
323
,
327
–28,
442
n

Watson, Peter H.,
30

WDMET (Wound Data and Munitions Effectiveness Team),
265
n

weapons:

contests for designs of,
4
,
144
–48,
150
–54,
158
–61,
188
–89,
191
–92,
195
n
,
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,
200
,
205
,
207
,
345

pilfering and illegal transfers of,
340
,
366
–71,
411

private dealing of,
86
,
354
–56,
358
,
363
,
369

profiteering and,
32
–33

standardization of,
32
–33,
203
–4,
214
–15,
249
,
255
–57,
275
,
296
,
364
–65,
408
,
419
n
,
435–36
n
,
444
n

stockpiling of,
5
,
9
,
12
–13,
340
–44,
349
,
354
–58,
366
–68,
387
,
398
–99,
410
–11

Welles, Edgar,
51
,
53
,
57

West Germany,
see
Germany, Federal Republic of

Westmoreland, William C.,
294
–96,
298
–99,
306
,
308

whale hunting,
12

Wheeler, Earle,
292
–95

on AK-47,
290
,
294
–95,
308

automatic rifle testing and,
283
–84,
288
,
292
–93

Whirlwind, Operation,
238

“White Man’s Burden, The” (Kipling),
104

Wilkinson, Captain,
62

William, Archduke,
83

William II, Emperor of Germany,
109
,
117
–18

Maxim gun demonstrated for,
84
,
90
,
112

special machine-gun units and,
117

World War I and,
118

Williston, Edward B.,
84

Winchester, Winchester rifles,
75
,
91
–92,
293
,
438
n

Winter War,
166

Winton, Sir Francis de,
84
–85

Wolseley, Lord Garnet J.:

Ashanti War,
47
–48,
78

Maxim’s relationship with,
105

Woodard, Charles,
324
,
441
n

World War I,
55
,
107
,
118
–40,
161
,
163
–65

Armistice in,
137

automatic rifles in,
138
–40,
163
,
167
,
267

battle of Tanga in,
119
–21,
426
n

Battle of the Somme in,
131
–35,
137
,
164
–65

casualties in,
45
,
118
–21,
123
–30,
132
–37,
251

Germany in,
118
–20,
123
,
127
–36,
138
–40,
233
,
246
,
426
n

human wave attacks in,
123
,
126
–29,
133
–34,
137

machine guns and,
45
,
84
,
90
,
119
–22,
124
,
128
–31,
133
–34,
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,
165
,
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,
251
–52,
255
,
424
n
,
426
n

prisoners in,
129
,
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,
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start of,
118

stockpiles of weapons from,
344

submachine guns in,
228
,
233
,
236

training for,
123
–27

trench systems in,
121
–25,
127
–29,
131
–33,
135
,
137
–39,
233
,
236
,
251

Western Front in,
119
,
121
–23,
131
–35,
138
–39,
236

World War II,
151
–53,
161
,
246
,
264
,
269
–70,
280
–81,
332
,
334
,
342
–44,
365
,
405

automatic rifles in,
155
,
163
–66,
253
–54,
280
,
295

casualties in,
157
,
179
–80,
185
,
254
–55,
287

German invasion of Soviet Union in,
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,
146
,
155
–57,
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–65,
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–69,
176
–80,
182
,
185
,
199
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,
238
,
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,
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Kalashnikov in,
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–47,
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–78,
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,
185
,
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,
224
,
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M1s in,
199
,
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,
295

prisoners in,
1
,
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Soviet Union and,
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,
143
–44,
146
,
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,
155
–59,
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–66,
168
–69,
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–83,
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,
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,
238
,
280
,
343
,
358
,
436
n

stockpiling weapons from,
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,
354
–56

submachine guns in,
168
–69,
179
–80,
182
,
185

Winter War and,
166

Wound Data and Munitions Effectiveness Team (WDMET),
265
n

Wyman, Willard G.,
276
,
438
n

XM8,
20

Xu Xiangqian,
216

Yakovlev, Aleksandr,
158

Yassin, Sheik Ahmed,
11

Ybarr, Corporal,
313

Yeltsin, Boris N.,
406

Yemen,
13
,
248
,
395

Yepishev, Aleksei,
18
–19

Yomuds,
49
,
57
–58,
61

Yonnies,
84
–86,
103

Yount, Harold W.,
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,
300
,
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–7,
324
–25

Yousaf, Mohammad,
382
–83

Yugoslavia,
157
,
340
,
366
–67,
436–37
n

and AK and AK-type rifle production and distribution,
9
,
11
–12,
16
,
250
–51,
257
,
364
,
390
–91,
412

arms pilfering and,
367

Hungarian embassy of,
226
,
238
–39

Zaharoff, Basil,
86

Zaitsev, Aleksandr,
186
,
188
–90,
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,
200

Zastava,
250
–51,
399

Zhao Erlu,
217

Zhukov, Georgy K.,
18
–19,
156
,
175
–76,
238

Zimbabwe,
86
,
225

Zmukshir,
49
–50

Zulu War,
62
–65,
83
,
87
,
124

zundnadelgewehr
(needle gun),
42

C. J. CHIVERS is a senior writer for
The New York Times
and its former Moscow bureau chief, and a frequent contributor to
Esquire
. From 1988 to 1994, he was an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, and served in the Gulf War and in the Los Angeles riots before being honorably discharged as a captain. His work has received several prizes, including a National Magazine Award for Reporting for the reconstruction in
Esquire
of the terrorist siege in Beslan and a shared Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for coverage in the
Times
of combat in Afghanistan. His war re-portage from 2003 through 2009 in Iraq and Afghanistan was selected by New York University as being among the Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade in the United States. He lives with his family in Rhode Island.

The first reasonably effective rapid-fire arm was the Gatling gun, shown here in patent drawings submitted by its inventor, Dr. Richard J. Gatling, in 1862. Gatling claimed he entered the weapons business to save lives. His weapon was not a true machine gun; firing it required a man to turn a crank. But it was the precursor to the rest.

As the killing powers of rapid-fire arms became understood, and manufacturing technology improved, new types of weapons—machines guns, submachine guns, automatic rifles, and assault rifles—entered markets. With time they were brought down in size and price, and connected to planned economies that produced them whether there were customers or not. The lethality, availability, and small size of assault rifles ultimately made them attractive to most anyone, including terrorists. Here, a Kalashnikov with its stock removed, which had been worn on a makeshift sling under the parka of a man who attacked a police station in Nalchik, Russia, during an insurgent raid in 2005. Its owner was dispossessed of it when he was killed. The keys beside the weapon provide a sense of scale. A fully outfitted Gatling could weigh a ton. A Kalashnikov like this weighs less than 8 pounds. (
Photo by C. J. Chivers
)