  Studies of the $\gamma$-ray strength functions can reveal useful information
concerning underlying nuclear structure. Accumulated experimental data on the
strength functions show an enhancement in the low $\gamma$ energy region. We
have calculated the M1 strength functions for the $^{49,50}$Cr and $^{48}$V
nuclei in the $f_{7/2}$ shell-model basis. We find a low-energy enhancement for
gamma decay similar to that obtained for other nuclei in previous studies, but
for the first time we are also able to study the complete distribution related
to M1 emission and absorption. We find that M1 strength distribution peaks at
zero transition energy and falls off exponentially. The height of the peak and
the slope of the exponential are approximately independent of the nuclei
studied in this model space and the range of initial angular momenta. We show
that the slope of the exponential fall off is proportional to the energy of the
$T=1$ pairing gap.
