College students in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, may have easier access to guns than most people in China. Those training for a career in national defense research at Nanjing University of Science and Technology are required to take a course on how to handle, dismantle, and reassemble firearms from different countries, the Modern Express reported Saturday.

The course, taught by an instructor who wished to use the name Wu, is offered to junior students majoring in subjects related to weapons manufacturing who plan to have careers in scientific research on national defense in the future.

The class was not widely known on campus until a series of photos from the course were posted online by a student who is enrolled in the class. The five photos, which were taken on the morning of November 28, show a gray-haired teacher demonstrating how to dismantle a real firearm.

According to the photos, the different types of guns used in class demonstrations included an AK-47 assault rifle from the Soviet Union, an Austrian AUG rifle and Chinese firearms.

The course has been warmly welcomed by students, many of whom say they never skip the class because it is so rare to have a chance to handle real guns.

Wu noted that the classroom's 36 seats were all occupied by students, adding that although the two-hour class is over at 10 am, many students are reluctant to leave and often linger until noon.

The teacher also said the reason he features firearms from all over the world, including old-fashioned guns, is because he feels students should touch real guns to obtain perceptual knowledge instead of being armchair strategists.

For safety's sake, Wu enforces four rules in his popular course: non-majors are not eligible to enroll in the class; guns can never be pointed at people; students may not take guns out of the classroom; guns can only be dismantled with the teacher's permission.

The course is taught in a special classroom that has its own bathroom, which serves as a built-in safety precaution against students leaving with a gun under the pretense of using the lavatory.

On the precondition of safety, Wu encourages students to become fully expert in taking apart and assembling the firearms.

"The teacher helps us reassemble the guns if we have trouble putting the dismantled ones back together. If something is wrong with the gun components, our teacher will get them fixed," said one student.

Wu said the use of firearms in his classroom, which is strictly regulated by the university, has received approval from the Ministry of Public Security.

Modern Express