How the AK-47 Rewrote the Rules of Modern Warfare

/via @wired & @creepysleepy:

The AK-47 and its variants can be seen as a lot of things—amoral massacre machines, pop-culture icons, the most plentiful and influential weaponry of the past half century. But the gun can also be viewed as one of the most disruptive technologies ever. Quickly transcending the purposes and borders of the highly centralized state that created it, the AK-47 gives individuals and small groups a lethality that previously belonged only to rigidly organized and well-financed militaries. What it may have lacked in precision and power it has made up for in ease of use, cost, reliability, and readily available parts and ammunition. It has helped ensure that even the poor, the small-statured, the dim-witted, the illiterate, and the untrained are able to acquire weapons and keep them functioning…

Keep Reading on Wired