Plenty of us enjoyed pinging rubber bands at unsuspecting school friends as children, but now one man has taken inspiration from his youth to create what he believes to be the ultimate office weapon.The Rubber Band Machine Gun is able to fire 672 rubber bands up to 26 feet (eight metres) at a rate of 14 shots a second from its 16 barrels.While such a weapon could no doubt inflict pain on a human target, the design student behind the toy is trying to raise money so that he can sell his wooden contraption to the public later this yearThe gun is powered by five AA batteries and can be reloaded with more ammunition in minutes.Design student Alex Shpetniy, 18, based his contraption on the Gatling gun - one of the world's first rapid-fire weapons.Originally invented by Richard Gatling, the forerunner to the modern machine gun is known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat.Mr Shpetniy spent a year developing the toy - which he believes is the world’s most advanced rubber band gun - using skills he honed building model airplanes.The Ukrainian student is raising funds on Kickstarter and has attracted $70,000 of pledges more than the $5,000 he set out to gather, demonstrating the demand for such a DIY weapon.  The gun is expected to go on sale this year for $140 (around £80).'Everyone loved having rubber band fights as kids and now children of all ages can enjoy practising their shooting skills with a Rubber Band Machine Gun,’ Mr Shpetniy said.He explained that the automatic machine gun is made from birch plywood and cut out using a CNC (computer numerical control) machine, which allows a user to enter a design using a computer that is then cut out using a router. The gun comes in three colours: original birch, burnt wood and black.Mr Shpetniy said: ‘With my Rubber Band Gun Machine everyone can feel like Rambo, launching a rubber storm, and throwing a pound of rubber bands into their opponent.’He explained that he had the idea to make a machine gun that fired rubber bands, after seeing more simple rubber band guns on the internet. ‘I am experienced in working with wood so I quickly set about making the first prototypes.‘String is wound onto the drum, passing through cuts in the barrels, then rubber bands are stretched over the string.‘The electric motor reels off the string pulling off rubber bands one by one, releasing them into flight.‘I have spent the last year developing the gun and the last stage of it was to invent the "fast charger" which means you can reload the rubber bands very quickly.'He claims there is nothing else like it on the market.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az