Mikhail Kalashnikov, the man who invented the AK-47, one of the most notorious weapons, died Monday at a hospital in Izhevsk, Russia. He was 94.
The cause of death was not released, but Kalashnikov had been fighting an illness for a long time, Businessweek reported. Kalashnikov lived in Izhevsk, a town in the Ural Mountains and the capital of the Russian republic of Udmurtia. It's the place where AK-47 rifles are made.
The AK-47, or the Automatic Kalashnikov, is used in nearly 100 countries around the world, from armies to terrorists, governments and drug dealers. It's the assault rifle of choice because it's light, cost effective and easy to use, according to Businessweek. In a 2009 biography of Kalashnikov, Alexander Uzhanov wrote the AK-47 was used in a least 40 of 60 large-armed conflicts since 1945.
Kalashnikov, who named the weapon after the year 1947 when it was finalized, was a former Red Army sergeant and a top official in the Soviet armaments industry, The Washington Post reported.
The idea for the weapon came in 1941, when Kalashnikov was wounded when driving a tank that was hit by Germans. He wanted to create a weapon to help the Soviet army defeat the German invasion, Businessweek reported. The weapon became standard issue in the Soviet Army by 1949.
But since then the AK-47, and other assault rifles like it have been exploited, counterfeited and used in some of the nation's most horrific massacres- most notably the Dec. 14, 2012 killings of 20 children and 6 adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. The shooter, Adam Lanza, used an AR-15 rifle, according to Businessweek.
When repeatedly asked how he feels about all of the lives that have been claimed by his weapon, Kalashnikov gave similar answers, according to The Washington Post.
"I didn't put it in the hands of bandits and terrorist, and it's not my fault that it has mushroomed uncontrollably across the globe," Kalashnikov said in a 2006 Associated Press story. "Can I be blamed that they consider it the most reliable weapon?"
