Kalashnikov suffered 'unbearable' feelings of responsibility for the many people killed with his rif - Polidicks

[img]http://imgkk.com/i/_li2.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25709371[/url] [quote]The inventor of the Kalashnikov assault rifle apparently wrote to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church before he died expressing fears he was morally responsible for the people it killed. Mikhail Kalashnikov, who died last month aged 94, wrote a long emotional letter to Patriarch Kirill in May 2012, church officials say. He said he was suffering "spiritual pain" over the many deaths it caused. Kalashnikov had previously refused to accept responsibility for those killed. But in a letter, published in Russia's pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia, he wrote: "My spiritual pain is unbearable. "I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I... a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?" he asked. "The longer I live," he continued, "the more this question drills itself into my brain and the more I wonder why the Lord allowed man to have the devilish desires of envy, greed and aggression".[/quote]

[quote]"I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I... a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?" he asked.[/quote] If it hadn't been a Kalashnikov, it would've been something else. Shame it stuck in the back of his head.

It's pretty terrible that not many people recognized that this man was just trying to build a tool to defend his homeland from the nazis, and accidentally created a weapon of unsurmountable destruction.

Much like Alfred Nobel and his Dynamite, you shouldn't hold yourself responsible for what other people do with what you created, if everyone feared a misuse of their creations we'd never see any progress.

[QUOTE=Chickens!;43533527]Much like Alfred Nobel and his Dynamite, you shouldn't hold yourself responsible for what other people do with what you created, if everyone feared a misuse of their creations we'd never see any progress.[/QUOTE] I don't see people shooting sculptures out of stone with AK's though. I mean I don't doubt it exists, I've never seen or heard of it, and the first thing I think of with dynamite is actually Mount Rushmore.

I feel bad for him. Like others said, he was just trying to protect his country, he never intended for the AK to become what it did.

That's too bad because he isn't responsible, he created an amazing weapon, but guns don't really kill people, that's like saying the creator of kitchen knives feels bad because someone used a knife to stab his wife

[QUOTE=Xmeagol;43534232]That's too bad because he isn't responsible, he created an amazing weapon, but guns don't really kill people, that's like saying the creator of kitchen knives feels bad because someone used a knife to stab his wife[/QUOTE] kitchen knives aren't made for killing

Usually I would blame those who wield the weapons and cause destruction with them instead of the actual makers but his weapon is widely used due to it's cheap price and production, which is an amazing engineering feat. Unfortunately this made it possible for everyone to get a hold on such a powerful rifle.

[QUOTE=Kondor;43534266]kitchen knives aren't made for killing[/QUOTE] Most knives are utility in nature. The only ones really build for "Killing" would be double beveled stilettos or something that can't be used for other than stabbing.

honestly its not his fault his fucking goverment decided to give them to litterally everybody who sent in 3 boxtops and $2.50 to the kremlin anytime between 1947 and 1989 i mean he designed it to save his people's lives by being the superior weapon, it was a noble goal.

[QUOTE=Kondor;43534266]kitchen knives aren't made for killing[/QUOTE] they are perfect

ikr, theres this one that is like 8 inches long and has a nice curve to it

[QUOTE=Xmeagol;43534232]That's too bad because he isn't responsible, he created an amazing weapon, but guns don't really kill people, that's like saying the creator of kitchen knives feels bad because someone used a knife to stab his wife[/QUOTE] Can we please avoid this goddamn discussion that comes up in every thread related to guns.

[QUOTE=Sableye;43534766]honestly its not his fault his fucking goverment decided to give them to litterally everybody who sent in 3 boxtops and $2.50 to the kremlin anytime between 1947 and 1989 i mean he designed it to save his people's lives by being the superior weapon, it was a noble goal.[/QUOTE]Yeah, he just made a tool. Those that were in charge of the Soviet Union decided to take what he made and proliferate it, if anyone's to blame beyond the person who pulled the trigger, it's them. Really though, I'd place the blame of all those killed squarely on the heads of warlords and the like, they're the ones most responsible for all the death and destruction. Without them, and people like them, the world would probably be a much better place.

[QUOTE=Kondor;43534266]kitchen knives aren't made for killing[/QUOTE] And Kalashnikovs aren't made for terrorists. [QUOTE=Sableye;43534766]honestly its not his fault his fucking goverment decided to give them to litterally everybody who sent in 3 boxtops and $2.50 to the kremlin anytime between 1947 and 1989 i mean he designed it to save his people's lives by being the superior weapon, it was a noble goal.[/QUOTE] Or that millions of them went unaccounted for after the fall of the USSR.

I hope he got a response to his letter in time. There's an interesting quote of his that explains that he wanted to help his nation (and if I recall, make agricultural things) and designed the weapon simply to replace the shitty (well, outdated) guns the Russians had used to that point,

hey the ppsh-41 was a good gun [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/PPSh-41_Penry_Museum.JPG[/t] its very name just says "shut the fuck up"

[QUOTE=purvisdavid1;43533589]I don't see people shooting sculptures out of stone with AK's though. I mean I don't doubt it exists, I've never seen or heard of it, and the first thing I think of with dynamite is actually Mount Rushmore.[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;O2uVS0XXAyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2uVS0XXAyE[/video]

Actually russian weapons during and pre WWII were very crude. Like everything else the Russians did during that time, the only reason they were effective was because they churned out insane amounts of them. If anything the Stg44 can be considered the spiritual precursor to the AK line.

[QUOTE=STIGintheBRIG;43536599]Actually russian weapons during and pre WWII were very crude. Like everything else the Russians did during that time, the only reason they were effective was because they churned out insane amounts of them. If anything the Stg44 can be considered the spiritual precursor to the AK line.[/QUOTE] I'd say they were elegant in their simplicity, not crude. They worked.

Even though his regrets are unreasonable and it sucks that he suffered because of it, it kind of shows off a bit of humanity that not everybody can make weapons of mass-destruction and feel indifferent/good about it, and that makes me feel safer

Why are people calling it a weapon of mass destruction? It's not like it's a nuke or chemical weapon

[QUOTE=MrJazzy;43536933]Even though his regrets are unreasonable and it sucks that he suffered because of it, it kind of shows off a bit of humanity that not everybody can make weapons of mass-destruction and feel indifferent/good about it, and that makes me feel safer[/QUOTE] The AK-47 isn't a weapon of mass destruction, it's a rifle. There are thousands of different rifle designs out there. The only reason the AK has the history that it does is because Soviet party leadership decided to make a few million of them and distribute them to unstable allied nations.

We can always go all the way to Sir Gatling, who thought his Gatling Gun held such destructive power that it would stop wars all together; or at least diminish the need for long wars which caused more death by disease back in that era. And I'm sure you could go even further back to people who invented some revolutionary weapon only to be distraught by the effects it had. [quote]It occurred to me that if I could invent a machine – a gun – which could by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a large extent supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease [would] be greatly diminished.[/quote]

[QUOTE=Doom14;43537119]We can always go all the way to Sir Gatling, who thought his Gatling Gun held such destructive power that it would stop wars all together; or at least diminish the need for long wars which caused more death by disease back in that era. And I'm sure you could go even further back to people who invented some revolutionary weapon only to be distraught by the effects it had.[/QUOTE] And how many Gatling guns do you see in wars today? Checkmate.

[QUOTE=Sector 7;43536997]The AK-47 isn't a weapon of mass destruction, it's a rifle. There are thousands of different rifle designs out there. The only reason the AK has the history that it does is because Soviet party leadership decided to make a few million of them and distribute them to unstable allied nations.[/QUOTE] Right I know, maybe I shouldn't have said weapon of mass destruction, but it's still a weapon intended to kill many people - and it has.

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;43537132]And how many Gatling guns do you see in wars today? Checkmate.[/QUOTE] Oh look a (Modern variation of a) Gatling gun! [IMG]http://www.photohome.com/pictures/aircraft-pictures/fighters/a-10-warthog-tank-buster-1a.jpg[/IMG]

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;43537132]And how many Gatling guns do you see in wars today? Checkmate.[/QUOTE] Literally all aircraft cannons are basically gatling guns.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;43535884]And Kalashnikovs aren't made for terrorists.[/QUOTE] No, but they [I]are [/I]made for violence. That's like saying that kitchen knives aren't made for cutting up squirrels and acting as though that negates the fact that they're still made to cut up stuff.