Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/61669
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Type: Journal article
Title: Self-constructed shooting devices utilizing manually-impacted firing-pins (suicide machines)
Author: Hartwig, S.
Corneillie, S.
Schmidt, S.
Byard, R.
Citation: American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 2010; 31(2):192-194
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Issue Date: 2010
ISSN: 0195-7910
1533-404X
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Sven Hartwig, Michael Tsokos, Sven Schmidt and Roger W. Byard
Abstract: Three cases of suicide are described where deaths were due to single gunshot wounds to the head from self-constructed shooting devices. The victims were twin brothers aged 27 years, and a 53-year-old male. The firearms were manufactured by the victims who used machined metal tubes with 12-gauge shotgun and 7.65 mm ammunition, respectively. The mechanism of action in all cases relied upon direct impact on the firing pin rod; with a hammer in 2 cases, and a rock in the third. Homemade firearms are manufactured globally for use in criminal activities, although they tend to be found more often in countries and among groups where there is limited access to commercially manufactured weapons due to economic or legal constraints. Most devices use either a standard sprung hammer or trigger mechanisms. Given the unusual and cumbersome nature of the firing mechanism in the reported cases, it is likely that these firearms were specifically manufactured for the purpose of suicide.
Keywords: homemade firearms
suicide
direct impact firing pin
Rights: © 2010 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
DOI: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181c297f5
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/paf.0b013e3181c297f5
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest
Pathology publications

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