Blank Firing Research Articles

Assessment of injuries patterns produced by a 9mm P.A.K "rubber ball" blank firing weapon: porcine model.

The use of less lethal weapons aims to mitigate civilian casualties caused by firearm use. However, due to numerous cases in which these weapons caused serious injuries, even lethal injuries, both legislation and the forensic field are interested in characterizing and regulating them better. In the forensic field, there is a lack of strong research about injury patterns of these weapons which makes it difficult to identify the type of weapon employed. In this study, the main objective was to characterize the injury pattern produced by the impact of the 9mm P.A.K. projectile. A porcine model was used. Four different distances were studied: firm contact, 10cm, 60cm and 110cm, using 3 of the more representative anatomical sites: the head, the hind leg and the ribs. The average measurement of the entrance orifice varied according to the anatomical site, being 6.67mm wide and 6.25mm long in the thorax, 7.3mm wide and 8.8mm long in the hind legs, and 7.62mm wide and 7.54mm long in the head. The variation in width and length measurements was not found to be directly related to the shot distance. The gunshot residues had similar characteristics to those of conventional lead projectiles, however there was more unburned powder deposit near the wounds, with a less dense soot and more dense powder tattoo. Depth varied widely regardless of tissue and firing distance, although loss of penetrating power and injury is observed as one moves away from the target.

Investigation of the variability in the tool marks produced by modified blank firing pistols on fired 7.65 mm projectiles

Firearms identification has an important place in forensic ballistic investigations since the weapons are widely used in criminal offences. Firearm examiners resolve many case files, through the use of automatic systems or comparison microscopes. Advanced forensic technologies like BALİSTİKA helps to record and analyze non standard ballistic evidence. In today's world, with the ease of access to materials and production technique information, pistols modified from blank firers are frequently encountered as crime tools. In this study, the characteristics of 7.65 mm fired cartridge cases obtained by controlled shots from blank firing modified pistols were examined, and their detection performances were compared by means of the Balistika system. Although distinctive differences are not expected after successive test shootings, balistically important changes were seen after the use of blank firing modified pistols and the 3D imaging system proved to be useful in observing such differences. The analyses showed that the modifications in weapons lead to variation in the ballistic characteristics and reduce the accuracy of the detection performance, which may result in flawed forensic decisions. It was also found that the deviations in ballistic impressions of modified blank firing pistols were greater than that of standard fabricated and hand-made pistols. This unique study contributed to the forensic sciences literature by focusing on the impact of modified weapons on ballistic characteristics.

Likelihood maximisation techniques for ranging gunfire over grassland

A study into acoustic parameter inversion in the presence of a non-moving, homogeneous atmosphere and grassland impedance ground is carried out using methods of likelihood maximisation. Measured frequency-dependent sound pressure level and power spectra for a blank firing pistol are used to generate simulated data with added Gaussian error to represent variations usually present in real life experiments. Inference is carried out using maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) and maximum a priori (MAP) where model parameters are either given as known or restricted to some uncertain distribution bounded by realistic conditions. The quality of inference is assessed visually and statistically as the error between the true and inferred predictions for a given propagation range. Application of a prior (MAP) greatly improves inference accuracy compared to the sole maximisation of the likelihood function (MLE). It is shown that the use of a single octave band frequency window does not improve the quality of inference, whereas combinations of several low frequency octave bands do. Exact quantification of the true values of the ground and source height are seemingly less important as range increases beyond 500m. Although the techniques presented in this paper are for military/security applications, they are readily applicable to other acoustical problems, e.g. source characterisation in engineering noise control. The methods adopted are likely to benefit from higher-dimensional models, i.e. inhomogeneous atmospheres, complex terrain or urban environments.

Investigation of Blank Cartridge Gun Harming Potential in Target Range of 0-5 cm

Aim: The aim of our study is to show through experiments harming potential of blank firing guns, which are known to be harmless mistakenly.
 Materials and Method: Two different types of blank firing guns were utilized to shot at chicken leg as a tissue simulant; at a distance of 0-5 cm. Results of the experiments were photographed and recorded in a digital platform.
 Contact shot at chicken leg caused full-thickness bone fracture and full-thickness tissue penetration. In contrast, correlation was not detected between dimensions of smoothing and tissue damage on the target. We think that the causes of results that have no correlation, as weather conditions, wind, temperature, defiency of blank cartridge guns.
 Findings and Conclusion: The results we had, studies and case reports about this subject in literature exhibit obviously harming potential of blank firing guns for human body. No significant correlation was determined between damage, diameter of soot and shot range in 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cm. A new research about the correlation between damage, diameter of soot and different close range of shot can be performed in another study.

Kurusıkı Silahla Yaralanmaya Bağlı Görme Sekeli Olgu Sunumu

Kurusıkı silahlar görüntüsüyle ve çıkardığı sesle gerçeğinden ayırt edilmesinin güçlüğü, ucuz olması ve taşınırken ruhsat gerektirmemesi gibi özellikleri nedeniyle konvansiyonel ateşli silahlara göre daha kolay erişilebilir silahlardır. Kurusıkı silahların; yaralanma, cinayet ve intihar vakalarında suç aleti olarak kullanıldığı bilinmektedir. Bu çalışmada eşi tarafından modifiye edilmiş kumsıkı silah ile başmdan vurulan bir kadının gözünde meydana gelen kalıcı sekel incelenmiş ve kurusıkı silahların toplum güvenliği için tehdit unsura olması irdelenmiştir.Anahtar Kelimeler: Kurusıkı silah, yaralanma, ölüm, cinayet, görme sekeli.

Death Due To Gas Pressure Of Blank Firing Gun: A Case Report

There is no difference between gas guns and the actual gun models in terms of shape, size and working principle except of barrel. As a matter of fact, fatal injuries may occur particularly in the head and neck region using adjacent firings with these guns without any barrel and bullet changes. In the present case, a head trauma associated with gas gunshot had been reported. There was no intracranial foreign body on radiologic examination and the case has died four days after the hospital admission. During autopsy process, a sutured wound on the right temporal external side and 1.5x2cm bone defect on the internal side examination were observed. Diffuse subarachnoid hemorrhage, softening of tissue consistency and contusions were detected in the brain. There were no traumatic-pathological findings on the chest or abdomen region. When we analysed reports; death had been related with head trauma, brain hemorrhage and skull fracture due to head trauma which may possibly caused by blank gunshot. Although they had been widely known as harmless, in this study our aim was to emphasize fatal effects of gas pressure of blank firing guns through adjacent firings and new legal regulations needed in charge of buying these kinds of guns.

Rapid miniature fiber optic pressure sensors for blast wave measurements

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious potential threat to soldiers who are exposed to explosions. Since the pathophysiology of TBI associated with a blast wave is not clearly defined, it is crucial to have a sensing system to accurately quantify the blast wave dynamics. This paper presents an ultra-fast fiber optic pressure sensor based on Fabry-Perot (FP) interferometric principle that is capable of measuring the rapid pressure changes in a blast event. The blast event in the experiment was generated by a starter pistol blank firing at close range, which produced a more realistic wave profile compared to using compressed air driven shock tubes. To the authors' knowledge, it is also the first study to utilize fiber optic pressure sensors to measure the ballistics shock wave of a pistol firing. The results illustrated that the fiber optic pressure sensor has a rise time of 200ns which demonstrated that the sensor has ability to capture the dynamic pressure transient during a blast event. Moreover, the resonant frequency of the sensor was determined to be 4.11MHz, which agrees well with the specific designed value.

Converted Firearms: A Transnational Problem with Local Harm

Over the last decade, the Dutch police as well as police forces in several other Western-European countries were confronted with an increase in the availability and use of converted firearms. Converted firearms were originally blank firing weapons, for example gas and alarm pistols, which are converted to fire live ammunition. These firearms were used for threats, (attempted) killings, robberies and drug related crimes. Although the trade in converted firearms seems to have a small-scale character when judged from a global perspective, the use of these weapons imposes a serious threat to society as converted firearms are cheap and easy to obtain by criminals with an evidently high inclination to shoot, in particular young men from ethnic minority groups. In this article the trade in converted firearms is described using a script perspective. Several underlying mechanisms are distinguished that facilitate the availability of converted firearms on the Dutch criminal market, especially the existence of transnational social networks and the limited context of control. Finally, several strategies are described that focus on the demand-side as well as on the supply-side of the criminal market for converted firearms, such as joint police investigations, local administrative measures, pre-emptive searches and tackling the use of converted firearms by exploiting the anxieties of criminals about the safety of such weapons.

Modified blank ammunition injuries

Blank firing weapons are designed only for discharging blank ammunition cartridges. Because they are cost-effective, are easily accessible and can be modified to live firearms plus their unclear legal situation in Turkish Law makes them very popular in Turkey. 2004 through 2008, a total of 1115 modified blank weapons were seized in Turkey. Blank firing weapons are easily modified by owners, making them suitable for discharging live firearm ammunition or modified blank ammunitions. Two common methods are used for modification of blank weapons. After the modification, these weapons can discharge the live ammunition. However, due to compositional durability problems with these types of weapons; the main trend is to use the modified blank ammunitions rather than live firearm ammunition fired from modified blank firing weapons. In this study, two types of modified blank weapons and two types of modified blank cartridges were tested on three different target models. Each of the models’ shooting side was coated with 1.3 ± 2 mm thickness chrome tanned cowhide as a skin simulant. The first model was only coated with skin simulant. The second model was coated with skin simulant and 100% cotton police shirt. The third model was coated with skin simulant and jean denim. After the literature evaluation four high risky anatomic locations (the neck area; the eyes; the thorax area and inguinal area) were pointed out for the steel and lead projectiles are discharged from the modified blank weapons especially in close range (0–50 cm). The target models were designed for these anatomic locations. For the target models six Transparent Ballistic Candle blocks (TCB) were prepared and divided into two test groups. The first group tests were performed with lead projectiles and second group with steel projectile. The shortest penetration depth (lead projectile: 4.358 cm; steel projectile 8.032 cm) was recorded in the skin simulant and jean denim coated block for both groups. In both groups, the longest penetration depth (lead projectile: 6.434 cm; steel projectile 8.608 cm) was recorded in the only skin simulant coated block. And the penetration depth of skin simulant and 100% cotton police shirt coated model was 5.870 cm for lead projectile; 8.440 cm for steel projectile. According to penetration results, national and international legislations and production standards should be re-evaluated in order to prevent the modification of blank weapons and ammunitions. There are three methods for preventing modification of blank weapons: completely closed barrel structure; intersected restrain pieces application; eccentric barrel structure.

Fatal cranial shot by blank cartridge gun: Two suicide cases

Blank firing pistols are generally considered to be harmless and these guns are not accepted as being firearms in most countries. Due to lack of legal regulations these guns are easily purchased by anyone aged over 18 years. Reports of serious injuries and even fatalities due to these guns are increasing in the literature. These guns when modified or even unmodified can cause serious and potentially fatal injuries. Without doing any changes to the barrel, using blank or tear gas cartridges, firing at contact range can cause penetration of gas into the body including bone originated from gunpowder. We report two suicide cases shooting themselves at temporal region with a blank cartridge gun at contact range. There was no foreign body on radiological examination and there was no trajectory of a bullet inside the brain. In both cases the wound was at the right temporal region and there was defect at temporal bone. There was circular soot around this bone defect. The injury of the brain tissue was localized at the level of the defect but there was widespread subarachnoidal bleeding. We discussed the potential danger of these guns and stressed the need of legal regulations concerning these guns.

Using polychromatic X-radiography to examine realistic imitation firearms

Sections 36–41 of the Violent Crimes Reduction Act (2006), which came into force in England and Wales on 1st October 2007, have placed significant restrictions on the sale and possession of ‘realistic imitation firearms’. This legislation attempts to produce a definition of a ‘realistic imitation’ which clearly differentiates these items from other imitation firearms (which are not covered by the legislation). This paper will go a stage further by demonstrating techniques by which blank firing realistic imitation firearms which may be suitable for illegal conversion to fire live rounds may be differentiated from other less ‘suitable’ (but visually identical) realistic imitations. The article reports on the use of X-radiography, utilizing the bremsstrahlung of a commercial broad spectrum X-ray source, to identify the differences between alloys constituting the barrels of distinct replica and/or blank firing handguns. The resulting pseudo-signatures are transmission spectra over a range from 20 to 75 kV, taken at 1 kV intervals, which are extracted from stacks of registered, field flattened images. It is shown that it is possible to quantify differences between transmission spectra for components of different realistic imitation fire arms, and apply the results to determine the suitability of particular gun barrels from blank firing imitation firearms for illegal conversion to fire live rounds, or related illegal modifications.

A comparison of scavenging bird deterrence techniques at UK landfill sites*

Birds that forage at waste management facilities have the potential to cause significant problems to flight safety, agriculture and the local environment. A variety of bird management techniques are available for deterring such birds. This paper examines the use of pyrotechnic bird-scaring rockets, helium-filled bird-scaring kites, hawks, falcons, automated distress calls, hand-held distress calls, automated sound generators, blank firing pistols and live rounds to deter gulls (Laridae) and corvids (Corvidae) from six UK landfill facilities. Forty separate trials were undertaken over a 2-year period. Each trial continued for 12 weeks or until birds stopped responding to deterrence. Scavenging gull and corvid numbers were counted during a 4-week pre-deterrence period and were compared to numbers counted after deterrence was implemented. Individual systems were deployed during weekday site operational hours only, or all week between dawn and dusk. The impact on scavenging gull and corvid numbers was recorded. Birds could not be eliminated but numbers were reduced to different extents by different techniques. The success of techniques also varied significantly in terms of habituation. It is hypothesised that deploying combinations of different techniques would improve results.