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Whether their purchase is real or a replica, American servicemembers can ship jezails or other souvenir weapons out of Afghanistan with the proper paperwork.

 Before shipping an antique or replica firearm to the United States, U.S. servicemembers must first bring the weapon to the customs office for an inspection. An antique firearm is defined as any firearm not designed or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition, manufactured in or before 1898 or for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States, and not readily available. The customs inspector will ensure that the antique gun has a proper date stamp and that it is generally clean.

 Once the weapon is cleared for shipping by a customs inspector, the servicemember must bring a completed customs form and weapon affidavit to the office of the Staff Judge Advocate for notarization.

 After paperwork is filed with the customs office, the servicemember is cleared to ship the replica or antique weapon by registered mail through the post office.

 Servicemembers cannot ship machine guns, defined as repeating-type of firearms; sawed-off style shotguns or shotguns with a barrel length shorter than 16 inches; rifles and shotguns with a barrel shorter than 26 inches in overall length; or martial arts weapons.

 Any knife with a blade more than 6 inches has to be cleared through customs. If the knife is stored in a decorative box, it can be sent back as is. If the knife is not being shipped back in a decorative box, it must be in a sheath prior to mailing to the U.S.

Source: International Security Assistance Force

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