But another weapon is responsible for far more deaths — numbering up into the millions. Originally developed in secrecy for the Soviet military, an estimated million AKs and its variants have been produced to date. This gun is now found throughout the world, including in the hands of many American civilians, who in bought as many AKs as the Russian police and military. As a physician, I have witnessed the destruction this weapon can wreak on human flesh. Mikhail Kalashnikov. Russian Mikhail Kalashnikov invented the weapon that bears his name in the middle of the 20th century.
Born on Nov. While still in the military, he produced several designs that lost out to competitors before eventually producing the first AK In , the AK became the assault rifle of the Soviet Army. Later adopted by other nations in the Warsaw Pact, the weapon quickly spread around the world, becoming a symbol of revolution in such far-flung lands as Vietnam, Afghanistan, Colombia and Mozambique, on whose flag it figures prominently.
The hostage-takers who stormed the Olympic Village in Munich in were armed with Kalashnikovs, and mass shooters in the U. The U. With a service life of 20 to 40 years, AKs are easily relocated and repurposed.
The huge worldwide production of the weapon, particularly in countries with low labor costs, has driven prices downward. Kalashnikov died a national hero in at the age of Throughout most of his life, Kalashnikov rebuffed attempts to saddle him with guilt over the vast number of killings and injuries inflicted with his invention. He insisted that he had developed it for defense, not offense. It is the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.
Yet in the final year of his life, Kalashnikov may have experienced a change of heart. Once a Red Army sergeant, he was given the rank of colonel in and subsequently rose to become a two-star general.
In the West, his invention might have made him a millionaire. In Russia, despite all the Kremlin plaudits and decorations, he was not a rich man and lived in a modest Soviet-era apartment in Izhevsk. After meeting M designer Eugene Stoner in the s, Kalashnikov said the American was flying his own plane, while he could barely afford the ticket from Izhevsk to Moscow.
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