Small, family-run businesses have been manufacturing weapons here for almost a century. With enough money you can stock up on Kalashnikov rifles, Mausers, shotguns, bazookas, mines and grenades, and Darra's famous pen guns, lethal enough to kill a sheep at 20 paces. Although you can get originals, most of the weapons are copies. Some have a tendency to blow up in your face.

Testing the merchandise is allowed, even encouraged. In fact, it has become so popular it's now a tourist attraction. For $US5 you can fire a few rounds into one of the hills above the town. For a little bit more, you can blow it up.

Life at first sight may look listless in Darra, but there are time when it's a blast - literally.