Inventor of AK-47 Rifle Mikhail Kalashnikov died

(FILES) A file picture taken on November 10, 2009, shows Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian inventor of the globally popular AK-47 assault rifle, attending festivities to celebrate his 90th birthday at the Kremlin in Moscow. Kalachnikov died on December 23, 2013, aged 94, announced Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency. Kalashnikov designed a weapon that became synonymous with killing on a sometimes indiscriminate scale but was seen in the Soviet Union as a national hero and symbol of Moscow's proud military past.

(FILES) A filew picture taken on  November 18, 2009 shows a Colombian police officer standing guard next to AK 47 assault rifles seized in Cali, Valle del Cauca department, Colombia.

(FILES) A file picture taken on August 7, 2007 shows Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the fabled AK-47 assault rifle, posing during a media event in Izhevsk marking the 200th anniversary of the Izhmash firearms producer, which makes roughly 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles every year.