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While scanning the newspaper for sales and coupons in 1982, my dad, David Horowitz, came across an advertisement for an Uzi marked down from $699 to $469, and his first thought was, “Who would want to buy a military-style weapon like an Uzi?” He was curious, so he investigated it on Fight Back!

It turns out that in the early '80s, some gun stores nationwide couldn’t keep the Uzi on their shelves. They were selling up to 150 units per month. People from all walks of life were buying the submachine gun. Some appreciated its military heritage, others wanted it for home protection, and some saw it as an investment.

The Uzi’s popularity was further fueled by several gun publications highlighting the advantages of owning one and its use as a military weapon in Israel. The attempted assassination of then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981 also led to a spike in sales after a Secret Service agent was seen holding an Uzi. All this according to the manager of a popular gun store David interviewed for the segment.

The only concerns police had about the Uzi at the time were that they constantly turned up in the stolen weapons department, that if a thief found out a person owned one, they could become a target for robbery, and the weapon could end up in the hands of the wrong person.

David saw the gun’s popularity as a sign of the times: “We seem to be living in a violent society, and we are all looking for ways to protect ourselves,” he said. “But is this the way to Fight Back?” he asked, taking the question to the streets, where people’s opinions on the Uzi were split.

Steve Bier, @WatchFightBack’s top YouTube commenter (I jokingly call him the unofficial Fight Back! historian), posted this vintage Fight Back! clip about the Uzi to the subreddit r/ForgottenWeapons this week. The video has a 100% upvote ratio.

Surprisingly, the most upvoted comments on the video weren’t about the gun itself, but about how clear, calm, and confident the people interviewed in the segment seemed.

One commenter suggested that people seemed calmer back then because they had no idea what was really happening in their communities—unlike today, where we are constantly flooded with information. (The Internet should be closed on weekends, We need days off…)

Others pointed out that David had excellent aim.

He did hit that target.

The Horror File

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