“Traces are still being done on the two firearms recovered at the scene — an SK

—“Traces are still being done on the two firearms recovered at the scene — an SKS rifle 7.62 (which is a Chinese-made AK variant) and a 9 mm pistol, a law enforcement source tells CNN.”—

no. an SKS is NOT an AK variant. It is a much more primitive weapon.

The AK was invented to replace it.

In technological terms, the sks is a clip-fed rifle like the M1 Garand. The AK is a magazine fed rifle like the M16.

FWIW: to develop the SKS the russians downscaled the design of the mechanism of a german artillery weapon. (Someone said russian, but I’m pretty certain the history is german artillery ->russian artillery -> russian rifle