Back in the '80s the only way to obtain VSS was, probably, to get it from the dead hands of a Soviet spetsnaz soldier somewhere in Afghanistan. That said, i believe, CIA may (or may not) have some samples of this weapon, but i'm sure that it has NOT been offered for export until early 1990s. And even then, it was offered only through State-owned RosOboronExport (former RosVooruzhenie) agency, and olny for foreign government military purchases.
However, i know at least one case when a civilian collector ended up owning a working piece of Soviet spetsnaz equipment. During the early 1990s Russian RosOboronExport sales team landed in Argentine, showing some of the neat stuff. At the end of the voyage, they decided.. to sell some of the collection, maybe for personal re-financing, i dont' know. So, one lucky collector bought himself a working
SPP-1 underwater pistol along with some ammunition
I know that because he mailed me some pics of his kit, asking for some information. So, probably, they (RosVor's (* ) also sold some VSS or AS to another lucky Argentinean boy with enough cash...
*) The irony is that "Vor" is either first part from the russian word "Vooruzhenie" (arms) or the complete word "vor" (thief).
