Telling the Violent History of the AK-47 Story aired: Monday, July 21, 2003
The AK-47 assault weapon is one of the best-designed, most durable and reliable machines of the Industrial Age. The AK stands for automatic Kalashnikov.
Many of the Kalashnikovs that flood today's battlefields -- have been sold and smuggled and resold. Estimates put the number of the weapons in circulation as high as 75 million worldwide The AK in the hands of a child soldier in Liberia or Sierra Leone probably served in several other wars from Afghanistan to Africa.
Airing tonight on the Sundance Channel is a documentary about the Kalashnikov and the man who designed it to fight the Nazis. His name is Mikhail Kalashnikov.
Guests:
William Hartung, professor at the World Policy Institute at the New School in New York.
