Gallery: How the AK-47 Rewrote the Rules of Modern Warfare

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    __1996__ Brooklyn hipsters declare their allegiance to the borough—and their superiority over fellow gentrifiers—by wearing AK-bedecked "Defend Brooklyn" T-shirts.
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    __2005__ Design guru Philippe Starck releases a luxe line of gun-shaped lamps, including an AK-47 model (available in chrome or gold). Great for armchair dictators.
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    __2001__ The anonymous antihero of *Grand Theft Auto III* terrorizes the good people of Liberty City with a baseball bat, a rocket launcher—and an AK-47 variant.
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    __2001__ Andrei Kirilenko—born in Kalashnikov's hometown of Izhevsk—starts playing forward for the Utah Jazz. His jersey number: 47. Guess his nickname.
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    __1997__ In *Jackie Brown*, Samuel L. Jackson waxes rhapsodic: "When you absolutely, positively got to kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes."
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    __1988__ NWA's "Straight Outta Compton," the defining anthem of gangsta rap, includes a shout-out to the Kalashnikov: "AK-47 is the tool."
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    __1984__ In *Red Dawn*, a group of US teens played by the likes of Patrick Swayze and Lea Thompson repel communist invaders by using the Reds' own AKs against them.
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