By Nick Wadhams
Associated Press

DENVER — Interest in the adventure and military magazine Soldier of Fortune has boomed since the Sept. 11 attacks sparked a new wave of patriotism and Americans turned their attention to the war in Afghanistan.

Magazine subscriptions sold over its Web site have increased from two or three to as many as 25 a day. Its print order has grown from 107,000 in September to 140,000 for December, editor and publisher Robert Brown said.

"The average reader buys three or four copies a year from the newsstand," Brown said. "When you have a critical situation like this overseas where we're involved with bayonets, then that reader is going to buy pretty much every one."

The uptick in sales for Soldier of Fortune, headquartered in Boulder, coincides with reports from gun makers, dealers and FBI statistics that more Americans have been buying guns since the attacks.

Concealed weapons permits are also up, and attendance has grown at National Rifle Association gun safety classes, said Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the National Rifle Association.

Bill Jourdan, periodicals buyer for Borders Books, said sales of Soldier of Fortune at Borders outlets had doubled since Sept. 11, but declined to give actual sales figures.

He said the recreational shooting magazine Guns & Ammo registered a 50 percent increase after the attacks but appeared to have leveled off for the current issue.

Mainstream magazines like Time and Newsweek also have seen increased interest, similar to spikes seen during other momentous events like the Gulf War, said Dan Capell, a magazine industry consultant.

Specialized magazines that appeal to law enforcement officials have also seen renewed interest, said Dan Shea, the general manager of Small Arms Review.

Although Soldier of Fortune has struggled to maintain its relevance since the Cold War and saw its circulation decline in the 1990s, it appeals to military personnel and people who have become more concerned with their safety and seek insider's knowledge of the war.

"They're the same people who are going out and buying guns for the first time," said Vern Humphrey, a Soldier of Fortune reader and one-time contributor. "They are people who feel vulnerable but who at the same time want to take steps to feel like they're doing something to protect themselves."

Soldier of Fortune was founded in 1975 as a journal for adventurers and military enthusiasts.

It set itself apart from similar magazines by maintaining a focus on gritty war reporting.

Brown, a former Green Beret wounded in Vietnam, filed reports from most of the major hotspots of the last 25 years, like the Gulf War, Bosnia and Lebanon — and others that didn't always catch Americans' attention like the guerrilla war in Burma and the coup in Trinidad and Tobago.

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was a reader. Several other extremists who have had run-ins with the law had copies in their possession.

Brown has received a letter of commendation from the Army in thanks after one of his reporters covering the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan brought back ammunition for the AK-74 assault rifle, then untested by the U.S. Army.

In a recent issue, it had reports from inside Afghanistan dated early October, long before many media outlets could get far inside the country.

Like Brown, most of the magazine's reporters have military experience. Those who serve in the military say that perspective lends crucial insight.

"I've found that visiting friends in the Pentagon, a high percentage of them either subscribed or bought it regularly," said subscriber and retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, who was retired by President Carter for defying him on troop reductions in Korea.

Gun control advocates say magazines like Soldier of Fortune have helped fuel a militarism that has seen the boom in pro-American sentiment since Sept. 11.

"Certainly what you'll see and are starting to see is a widespread push by publications, by various aspects of the gun lobby, to react to and take advantage of the Sept. 11 attacks," said Josh Sugarman, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, an ardent supporter of gun control.

December 20, 2001