AK-47

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'AK-47' That Prompted Panic Was Something Very Different

Police in New South Wales, Australia, say 'weapon' they found in car was actually just a bong

(Newser) - There was a bit of panic in Australia this week, after Sydney locals reported the sighting of a man carrying a frightening-looking assault rifle—but all was not what it seemed. The BBC reports that 911 calls started pouring in late Wednesday afternoon from the northwest side of the city,...

After 'Most Extreme Anti-Mask Incident' in Anaheim, 3 Arrests

2 men face life in prison after allegedly shooting up strip club after being asked to wear face coverings

(Newser) - Authorities tell the Washington Post a late October shooting at a strip club in Anaheim, Calif., was "the most extreme anti-mask incident" in the city to date. Now, three suspects have been arrested, and two of them face life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors say that on Halloween night,...

O'Rourke's Plan to 'Take Your AR-15' Raises Questions

Americans own an estimated 16 million AR-15s and AK-47s

(Newser) - Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke's recent vow to take away people's AR-15 and AK-47 rifles raised one big question: How is it possible to round up the millions of such guns that exist in the United States? The number of AR-15 and AK-47s in the US is...

Woman Blocks Grandson's Plan to 'Shoot Up' a Texas Hotel

19-year-old had bought an AK-47

(Newser) - Another man was planning a mass shooting in Texas, prosecutors say, until his grandmother intervened. William Patrick Williams, 19, told his grandmother on the phone last month that he was homicidal and suicidal, the criminal complaint says. He'd bought an AK-47, he said, and was going to "shoot...

A Stolen AK-47, Then: 'She Was Screaming in Pain'

Texas teen was trying to shove gun down her pants, cops say

(Newser) - A teen was hospitalized, then charged after she ended up shooting herself in the foot with a stolen firearm, Texas police say. Cops say they responded to a shooting call in Harris County and found two females, 17, and a 16-year-old male at the scene, per ABC News . A Facebook...

Grandmother Unloading AK-47 Shoots 3-Year-Old Girl

Bullet passed through floor of Detroit-area home

(Newser) - A 3-year-old girl has been wounded after an AK-47 assault rifle accidentally discharged as her grandmother was trying to unload the weapon inside a Detroit-area home, the AP reports. Warren police say the girl was shot Wednesday morning after the grandmother found the rifle in the home. According to WJBK,...

Russia's Kalashnikov Statue Had Embarrassing Error

Workers have to remove part of Moscow monument just days after it was unveiled

(Newser) - Just days after a monument honoring AK-47 designer Mikhail Kalashnikov was unveiled in Moscow , workers have removed a part of it that showed a German weapon that many believe inspired the renowned assault rifle. The monument features a towering statue of Kalashnikov and an adjacent sculpture of St. George fighting...

Creator of One of World's Deadliest Weapons Gets Huge Statue

Monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov and his AK-47 unveiled in Moscow

(Newser) - The AK-47 has been called "the Coca-Cola of small arms." It's said to be responsible for 250,000 deaths every year and believed to have killed more people than all other modern weapons combined. On Tuesday, a 30-foot monument dedicated to its designer, Lt. Gen. Mikhail T....

Kalashnikov Now Makes Drones, Boats, Clothing

US sanctions have forced a new business strategy

(Newser) - Get ready to see the Kalashnikov name on everything from drones and motorboats to menswear. Just three years ago, 40% of the Russian company's gun sales came from the US. Then in 2014, Russia was hit with US sanctions that put Kalashnikov $5.2 million in the red and...

Kalashnikovs Soon to Be Made in Florida

Kalashnikov USA gets approval for factory in Pompano Beach

(Newser) - Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles will be soon be made in Florida. Pompano Beach recently gave Kalashnikov USA permission to assemble the guns in the city, CNNMoney reports. UPI reports that the company will build a factory there, and the Sun-Sentinel adds that the 40,000-square-foot facility will ultimately bring 54...

Cops: Ambush on Troopers Was Planned for Months

Suspect Eric Frein continues to elude FBI and police during massive manhunt

(Newser) - The man suspected of shooting two Pennsylvania State troopers 10 days ago may have been planning both the shooting and his escape for months if not years, police say, perhaps explaining why he's been able to elude captivity for so long . Even the clues uncovered yesterday in the huge...

Banned by Russia Sanctions, AK-47s Flying Off Shelves

Gun buyers are clearing out dealers' inventory

(Newser) - Gun control advocates may have been thrilled with US sanctions on Russia that banned imports of AK-47s, but they probably didn't count on the huge jump in US sales of the assault rifle that resulted. Gun dealers have run out of inventory after consumers rushed to stockpile Kalashnikov AK-47s...

Cops Bust Banana Toting an AK-47

When PR stunts go wrong...

(Newser) - A Beaumont, Texas, gun shop got a little more attention that it had bargained for with a rather unusual promotional stunt—a teenager in a banana costume standing by the road with an AK-47 on Saturday morning. Police briefly detained the 18-year-old after fielding calls from concerned citizens who saw...

Dying Kalashnikov Wrote of His Guilt
 Dying Kalashnikov 
 Wrote of His Guilt 

in case you missed it

Dying Kalashnikov Wrote of His Guilt

Russian daily: He wrote of 'unbearable ... spiritual pain'

(Newser) - In our own obituary of AK-47 inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov last month, we included this quote: The rifle was invented "for the protection of the Motherland," he said. "I have no regrets and bear no responsibility for how politicians have used it." It turns out "no...

AK-47 Inventor Dead at 94
 AK-47 Inventor Dead at 94 
obituary

AK-47 Inventor Dead at 94

Mikhail Kalashnikov invented the rifle while in his 20s

(Newser) - A man whose last name is all but certain to be remembered long after he has been forgotten has died at age 94. Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47 assault rifle, was hospitalized in mid-November, after weathering heart and intestinal problems; a cause of death will be released post-autopsy. In...

Man Sentenced for Firing AK-47 at Trick-or-Treater

12-year-old boy killed, stepfather and brother wounded in incident

(Newser) - A 27-year-old South Carolina man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing a trick-or-treater who came to his door on Halloween 2008. Quentin Patrick was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to murder in the death of TJ Darrisaw. Prosecutors say the 12-year-old boy was shot at least...

10 Inventors Who Saw No Riches From Their Big Idea

Like the guys behind Post-It Notes...

(Newser) - Despite what you may think, a smash-hit of an invention doesn't necessarily set an inventor up for life. (Witness Doug Englebart , who invented the computer mouse but didn't see a dime from it.) As the BBC points out, there are plenty of others who failed to make...

Booze, Drugs, and AK-47s: Target Practice Goes Awry

Ohio men accidentally shoot up neighbors' houses

(Newser) - Residents of an Ohio town found themselves running for cover yesterday afternoon, when their neighbors unwittingly sprayed their homes with bullets while target shooting with AK-47s, police tell ABC 5 . Police responded to 911 calls reporting gunfire at about 2:24, according to the Medina-Gazette , and found themselves dodging bullets...

Who's Buying Russia's Kalashnikovs? Americans

US consumers now buy as many AKs as Russian soldiers, police

(Newser) - When you think "Kalashnikov," you probably think of Russia. But these days the Russian factory that makes the AK-47 is relying heavily on demand from American gun aficionados, the New York Times reports. US sales of the "Saiga," the civilian model of the AK, rose 50%...

Heavily Armed Man Busted After Packing Gun to Dark Knight

Tim Courtois told cops he was on his way to shoot his ex-boss

(Newser) - A heavily armed man loaded with newspaper clippings about Colorado's Dark Knight massacre has been busted while speeding down a Maine highway. He boasted to cops he had just attended a showing of the Batman film packing a loaded gun—and was on his way to New Hampshire to...

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