In fact, the family of the weapon's designer spoke out in 2016 and echoed similar sentiments: "Our father, Eugene Stoner, designed the AR-15 and subsequent M-16 as a military weapon to give our soldiers an advantage over the AK-47," they told NBC News . "He died long before any mass shootings occurred. But, we do think he would have been horrified and sickened as anyone, if not more by these events."