This Florida Warehouse Is Producing ‘Made in America’ Kalashnikovs

Weeks before he killed 17 students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Nikolas Cruz bought an AK-47-style rifle at a gun shop. While he didn’t use it during his killing spree on Feb. 14, his purchase drew attention to civilian versions of one of the most famous Russian inventions of the 20th century, the AK-47.

In late February, shortly after the shooting, a small group of protesters gathered at a large, nondescript warehouse in Pompano Beach, about 13 miles from Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Although it bears no signs or corporate markings, this 40,000-square-foot factory is the headquarters of Kalashnikov USA, which sells semi-automatic shotguns based on the iconic AK-47 design of Kalashnikov Concern JSC, the state-owned Russian arms maker that the U.S. Department of the Treasury slapped with sanctions in July 2014. According to the U.S. company’s website, you can get one of these semiautomatic shotguns from one of three dozen gun dealers across America. The price: $999.