On Monday, April 14, 2003, according to numerous press reports, an AK-47 assault rifle was used in a deadly shooting at John McDonogh High School in New Orleans, LA. One male student was killed and three female students were injured in a spray of more than 30 bullets. The AK-47 was one of the assault weapons banned by Congress by name in 1994. However, the AK-47 is still available in both pre- and post-ban configurations. (Slight cosmetic modifications take such post-ban guns out of the federal definition of "assault weapon.") Below are examples of pre- and post-ban AK-47s and other examples of shootings involving AK-47s.

AK-47 Assault Rifle, Pre-Ban

AK-47 Assault Rifle, Post-Ban

Examples of Shootings Involving AK-47s

On February 20, 2003, police officers in Alexandria, Lousiana were serving a search warrant when they were ambushed by Anthony Molette, who killed two officers and wounded three others with an AK-47 assault rifle. The 25-year-old Molette, had a criminal history dating back to 1995 including 22 arrests, mostly on drug and weapon charges. In April 1998, he was arrested on a charge of attempted first-degree murder. The charge was dropped in 2000 after the victim and key witnesses refused to cooperate, according to court records.

Michael McDermott allegedly brought an AK-47 assault rifle, a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a .32 pistol and ammunition to the empty Edgewater Technology office on Christmas Day 2000, and retrieved them the next day, killing seven of his co-workers. McDermott allegedly fired 49 shots from the AK-47 and six from the shotgun, stopping the killing only when he ran out of ammunition. Police arrived and discovered McDermott sitting in the reception area holding the guns used in the shooting as well as the loaded .32 pistol. Investigators believe that McDermott was motivated by his anger that his wages were to be garnished to collect back taxes that he owed to the IRS. Despite a history of mental instability including a suicide attempt in 1987, McDermott received a gun permit from the Rockland, Massachusetts, police in 1989. Investigators believe he legally purchased the weapons used in the shooting before letting his permit expire in 1998.

Arturo Reyes Torres, an avid hunter and gun collector, had recently been fired from his job at Caltrans Maintenance Yard for allegedly stealing and selling government-owned materials. He believed he was set up by his supervisor and returned to Caltrans seeking revenge. On December 18, 1997, Torres killed four people—including his former supervisor—and wounded two others, firing 144 rounds from his AK-47 assault rifle in just over two minutes. Torres was shot and killed by police. The rifle was purchased legally on April 30, 1988, from B&B Gun Sales in Orange County, California. Torres was a gun enthusiast whose collection included two AK-47s, three 12-gauge shotguns, six handguns, and six rifles. According to police, all his guns were legally owned and kept in a five-foot-tall metal safe.

On January 25, 1993, Mir Aimal Kansi, a 28-year-old Pakistani living in Virginia, opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle on cars waiting to enter the grounds of Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia. He killed two people, both employees of the agency, and wounded three others. He then fled to Pakistan, where he was captured in 1997. Kansi legally purchased the gun from David Condon Inc., a dealer in Chantilly, Virginia just three days before the shooting. He produced identification to prove his Virginia residency and passed a Virginia State Police computerized background check.

On January 17, 1989, Patrick Edward Purdy, who had expressed his dislike for Asian immigrants and Asian-Americans, opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle on the Cleveland Elementary School schoolyard full of Asian-American children, firing 106 rounds, killing five and wounding 30 before taking his own life. Purdy bought the AK-47 rifle at the Sandy Trading Post, in Sandy, Oregon, on August 3, 1988. State law in Oregon at the time allowed assault rifles to be sold without any waiting period and with minimal paperwork.