and with extremely violent clashes anger has been high after a police officer shot one demonstrator at close range on monday bushfires in australia are threatening sydney's northern suburbs as a perfect mix of hot air and strong winds continue to fan the flames firefighters in the state of new south wales say the conditions are so bad they're not classified as catastrophic the weather is expected to continue in favor of the bush fires and they may not have them under control until next week. spain's socialist party is taking its 1st step towards forming a government after reaching a deal with the far left. acting prime minister pedro sanchez signed the preliminary coalition deal with. just 2 days after the election but they still need support from other parties for a government to be confirmed stay with us the stream is coming up next looking at the global legacy of. weapons and then we'll have more news for you in half an hour .

hi emily could be and you're in the stream today we're talking about the kalashnikov assault rifle or a k 47 just what makes it the world's most popular gun will discuss its history and legacy and we want to hear your questions and comments about it share your thoughts via twitter or in our lives the 2 top. hello i'm dr charmaine nelson professor of art history at mcgill university in montreal and you are in the street. russia is commemorating 100 years since the

birth of soviet weapon inventor kalashnikov for the russian ministry of education it is an opportunity to teach school aged children about kalashnikov who was hailed a national hero and died in 2013 at the age of 94 online russians are using the hash tag kalashnikov 100 to share their thoughts on his life and legacy lissa offers this insight the machine gun invented by him became a symbol of russia as well as the most widespread small arms in history radio studio but it's important to protect kalashnikov's memory justice is an invention help to protect russians on instagram people using that same ha here he's commemorated on postage stamps and lapel pins and the military offers a look at an in progress memorial that will be installed at a museum in st petersburg later this month meanwhile kalashnikov's media put together an immersive website to help you learn more about his life we heard from

the project's editor in chief andre mci. looks to lose so now there's a little to my future collision course who will do little good to sleep with you so simply. because i've learned to trust you still could prove you were going to school political control of you can move to my favorite late to. do you see is the sewer it was do on one spits project for me could you would you could be. introduced me to impose a reason if you could construct through so we've heard from people commemorating his legacy but what do people in other parts of the world think joining us today to discuss imposed on poland you know sodomy far a combat zone anthropologist and author of the book living with the a k $47.00 also with us jonathan ferguson of armaments research services and the firearms curator at the royal armories museum and leads in the u.k.

where he joins us and in doha maria a journalist who covers the middle east the balkans and eastern europe she's written for a variety of media outlets including al-jazeera welcome everyone to the show so good to have you here i want to start with our community because they had a lot to say about this weapon many familiar with it i'll start here 2 opposing opinions was if it symbolizes terror mass murder and lethal violence to say the very least so that's one person's perspective i'll give you another person who wrote in and this is just minutes after we sent out this tweet our community telling them we're doing this show i've been ash as well the case symbolizes freedom to me when i look at the a k 47 it was instrumental in the freedom of zimbabwe mozambique it symbolizes great. so jonathan you see these 2 opposing sides there although both

still be true can you give us the back story how did this come about. sure yeah exactly so you want to be extreme views and views in the middle as well. as the origins the car kalashnikov was a military man himself tank crewman it was injured turned his mind to the design of small arms came up with a submachine gun worked on a carbine. ended up in charge of a design team working on a new concept the assault rifle so combining different types of weapon into along the central something that would do all of the jobs of an infantry unit automatic fire medium range controllable fire as well. so this was based in part on a german german concept from 2nd world war there. but we got assault rifle from

this is very much the russian take on the design. i want to play a video comment from a member of our community who had them thoughts on the creator this is eric harpies a political science lecturer in the us here in virginia and here's what he told the story he'd been plucked out of obscurity to lead a new research development program the weapons program that he was involved in. it wasn't creating the most sophisticated gun never quite the opposite it was the simplest firearm and the result was to make warfare easy for amateurs in the 1960 s. in the 1970 s. we saw the consequences guerrilla warfare everywhere in the 1980 s. his rival made possible the spread of global terrorism in the 1990 s. it was directly responsible for the spread of child soldiers be idea of having not more sophisticated technologies in the future but simpler easier to operate technologies that's kalashnikovs that was his insight. you know what do you make

that parents come in there specially the point where he says it was the simplest firearm is that true in your view and as it is it's still true so it's quite a simple are armed to operate but it was not a fire our whole amplified violence violence existed in different ways in a and a lie a structure of societies be it in africa the middle east or central asia basically it highlighted. so the simplicity is one thing but the symbolism which produce in different societies around it it allowed to become such an appealing element so you have knowledge is quite a much of militia fighters are cross middle east who do not care for necessary if you're 47 anymore and they have access to other arms so it producer form of cultural habits you asian as well besides the fact that it's a simple weaponry it's quite easy to operate it's quite it has

a good resolutions and learn djibouti but it had it has a lot of symbolic partition and it has a lot of aesthetic appeal once so those elements basically needed elements of violence or element of highlighting balance bugs those violence all of that just as if you're 47 was not there something else would make it much more why aren't you as you're speaking now yes it was not her had mary you go 1st and then janice that you're drunk and you come in after. yeah i mean i was actually quite surprised. where a brow aaron. assessment of the a k 47 but it's coal somehow terrorism and violence and all that stuff if there was a k 47 if kalashnikov hadn't been around. many decades ago to be invented there would have been another weapon that would have been produced so what if it was out

in the exact same thing so we're talking about wind and so when so can bow surgeons the. heroism and so on all these different types of warfare they would have to look into politics and we have to think about when the a k 47 was born and he was born the cold war was beginning and what was the cold war doing it was there were 2 superpowers that were interested in influencing the world and one way to influence the world was to provide weapons to different forces on the ground in different countries and to support their goals right so this is well a k $47.00 that for the u.s.s.r. it basically supports and so if it closes the u.s.s.r. won't the police because to succeed the u.s. was also supplying weapons to different factions different parties different countries governments and so on so to blame everything bob happening in the world

in terms of violence you know terrorism and so on it's i think a bit of an exaggeration right now jonathan. i was going to say something similar. if it wasn't the i.k. it would have been something else and not something else is the alpha thing. if we have 7 which is you know united states is an answer in a way correct yeah absolutely yeah we talked just then about different states providing homes to different actors. sometimes united states to supply kalashnikov rifles because it was fitted the time the place whatever. but if we if we think in terms of the numbers so 75000000 kalashnikov. direct variant minimum in the world probably will the next most numerous is the way off if game america's favorite rifle arguably and certainly the u.s.

military's rifle that's at $11000000.00 so it's a lot a lot lower quantity wise but starting to catch up and it's simply its own way in fact it has something i wouldn't say mess about the cost because it is easy to use it's definitely simple what it isn't is particularly gnomic so the controls a few and quite simple but they're not kind of the way you would want them to be if you were starting from scratch if that makes sense they were made to be as simple as possible that's great for mass production with conscripts soldiers. that's fine you know you thought was the starting point has any right right and it's perfectly adequate for the grateful professional army as well but just like the british army rifle you kind of to train around that the the office scene is like a gold standard for firearms i've been on the x. i was. on it's simple in its own way without getting into the technicalities it's not so how did the have the time it's

a product of its time on the manufacturing techniques of the time as well the m 16 i often think could not be said. usually also cheap. so it was in the writer jonathan as i love it that's how you sums it up because jonathan i want to bring in this comment we got from someone watching on you tube a man he says explaining the reason that it is everywhere is that you can only do that with a low maintenance weapon the simple ease of use of the 8 k. allowed the soviets to then give them away so i want to show our audience because i know our gas probably already know this i want to show our audience the places that it is traveled at least models of the 8 k. so this is mozambique's national flag you might notice it there you saw it in the 1st tweet that i read it on the today show explained that there this. quite interesting one saddam hussein's gold plated a k 47 that was found after the u.s.

invasion of iraq and this last one is a whole list be a mike 10 photos that show how the 847 has become a global political symbol a scroll to show you just a few chill a iraq the hezbollah although some say this is a variant of the a k 47 not the a k 47 itself but explaining that and why it has really spread so many places eunice i want to bring you in here on this why. is the whole global appeal how do you explain. so my area of work is mostly it's a best asian central asian that i can talk much but you see there was a confluence of times when s.p.c. and seventy's when a lot of resistance groups they met each other in the west asia and these groups they understood they can talk to the simplicity of design of a cure for autism and together they could train together they can exchange lesson

militar knowledge to the simplicity and then from there when the 1st resistant groups like hezbollah are they received this weapon it became the symbol symbolic appearance which something which always comes along with martyrs so you see in any photo when there's a martyr there's the age of $47.00 there so it became merged with the idea of martyrdom and this emergence slowly slowly produces the culture of resistance so this culture of resistance of produce this symbolism and the all around mark around if you're 47 and for example to give you in very specific an actor and much our masood who basically was the commander of the northern alliance in afghanistan then he at ended a funeral of a one of his commanders imagery during the during the burial ceremony he picked up

the age of $47.00 and handed it to the brother of. the multiyear and said this is the weapon of a martyrdom so will you promise to carry it further so it has that aura and however now any weapon which has similarity of structure it has its becomes kalash it becomes a $47.00 collage as it would be said in central asia or middle east so that symbolism which is going to certain social history it had it creates for that abil and a lot of forms of masculinity and boyhood is. militarized in middle east so this militarization could do certain imagination ideas of how to become a man so if you're 47 becomes a purchase or accessory of. certain male groups in the. i mean that's all right it's amazing that so passing i wrote that down and how to become a man eunice because we're actually hearing from people who talk about the use of

the 8 k. by children especially child soldiers i want to share this from you tube nathan says as a u.s. military veteran any weapon of war does not belong in civilian hands i'm a 4th generation that my father faced child soldiers in vietnam with a k 47 s. and we also got a comment from a former child soldier himself in the south sudan region that conflict have a listen to emmanuel jal and here's his experience with that gun. in my experience it's a k $47.00 is it's light it's easy to come in and when you find you enjoy the beach the reason makes you strong strong when my friend died i had to cut sky plus my. what i can say now is. that. no child should ever case. when we were growing. we're taught to

take you for 70 so far and how much we looked. what do you make of that comment. it's actually really sad and i wish there was a bit more awareness. among the countries in the governments that decided to send these weapons to the front points around the world whether it's africa whether it's the middle east like in america. i mean that's actually on the other side of. the process the people who produced the gun you can see that there is actually pride in it there is no there is no remorse there is no sense of guilt there is no understanding that this guy has created a lot of violence it has created a lot of suffering so you can see i mean that was the introduction of the program

the soul how in russia this gun is perceived and also the maker of the gun i can tell you in vogue area for example which receives trounce worth acknowledging. the license to produce it during the communist era. they might come she and many of my country mates see the ball gary and kalashnikov as this superior colossal goal so they don't they haven't realized you know during the communist era bulgaria was exporting a large amounts of kalashnikovs and other small arms. so the full version it continues to do so during the yugoslav for for example bulgaria was a huge source of weapons without conflict which was right next door. then they were called 6 bit further but still close enough let's say syria in iraq of gonna

stand and so on and you can see the dung go as far as places in africa. and i have traced like somewhat both gary and made weapons as far as africa so in vogue area when you talk so much. or let's say a weapon feeler they will say proudly the bulgarian kalashnikov is the best kalashnikov in the world but if you ask this child soldier if you ask right now a fight in syria if you you know back in the day during the vietnam war. in vietnam if they you know could recognize the bulgarian kalashnikov and they could tell it apart from the russian one or the chinese no calls none of them would tell you yes i can normal most of them would say like yeah i proudly carry a bulgarian gun the vogue and kalashnikov. and that for me. i would say is is incredibly sad to see that there is this. cold mist of dissonance

in the way they clean the people who produce the guns and the people who end up using it. this is absolutely yeah totally the idea that there are different layers of kalashnikov we lump everything in under a k 47 which is a problem in itself for people like us who try to truck and record and write about these things. because that best describes only one of many. offspring jonathan i'm glad you said that because it's not often that we're able to show what we're talking about on the stream you have with a style weapon can you show us what makes it in a k yeah well the. the collection that we have. the raw maries extensive kalashnikovs i have one myself which is not actually live thankfully for everyone involved. well it depends where you are right but. where i am it would

probably get me in trouble so this is actually a factory made dummy gun so it's used for training. instructional purposes so it's the same as a real kalashnikov a k 74. so this is. 990 s. and still in use today in the russian armed forces. weapons very much like it in many other forces russia has modernized recently with the i k 1215 so we just see iteration after iteration even from from russia. still sticking by that basic mechanical design and then around the world so the main difference here is that this one is chambered in a smaller but with a small of bullets in the cartridge which is high velocity flash a shooting more like the american m. 16. concept is that like so yes so.

there's a particular type. so strictly ok 47 is only the prototype trials rifles so we use a code which is actually easier but it's a bit late because the world has already branded the whole thing ok well i think you for dispelling some of this about and explaining that to us you know so i hear you trying to get in but i want to add one more thing and i'll direct this to you because i do want to share this with the world for those who don't know this is a headline it's from 2014 weapons designer kalashnikov repented 47 killings in a letter before his death. this is reported by russian daily the pain in my soul is unbearable i keep asking myself the same unsolvable question if my assault rifle took people's lives that means i am responsible for people's deaths now there was an interview a little clip of caution off his daughter speaking at

a museum exhibit earlier this year in september here's what she said. and he was a quiet man who was a very short stature he was very modest he had great self-restraint he was a very wise man. check it with he only came out on the world stage so to speak in the 1990 s. and before that our family was kept secret the kids were kept secret and everything was kept secret. eunice as we were playing that someone watching on you tube says the gun is not to blame those who put it in the hands of children if it wasn't a k. it would have been another weapon probably an american made one point that has been raised earlier here you know what if you want to. so i wanted to add there is one thing which will lend around this interesting let's say a little object is that the political economy of us or some and how even us

socially produced this idea let's say not manufactured as a piece of machinery as an idea because if you look at the very how it became so pervasive because users are tolerated it's not version and all the copycats so it was a form of a decentralized power because we imagine u.s.s.r. as a point of art already and absolute authoritarianism but even just to look at the travel of this object is basically a cure for autism and we see how it allowed to power to be decentralized and everybody who produces produce let's say a little object and at the same time so u.s.s.r. locked all the let's say friendly country to act and not by giving them also the eagle ford is a by locking them to the ammunition because the ammunition basically which is a if if a said quietly adding is $4.00 or $4.00 they will lock in and out of

a lot of people that are of yeah now i think you found. $5.00 it will lock in that production of ammunition and they were locked with the continuation of the pollution of $47.00 so it was more there was a lot of political thinking around hall lit such a legal little object become a dominating of weapon in the certain areas so it's great it's simple it's so one so which we talk a lot but there was much more into it there was a lot of political loading into it i mean here is where you know sarah fired jonathan ferguson thank you for adding that in in clarifying a little bit unfortunately i have to parse you as well as mary i've had to thank you so much for join. that's all the time we have for this conversation but so much more to say it could happen online a day stream at 8 or stream thank you for joining us and thanks to our community for sharing your thoughts we'll see online.

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