Semiautomatic Pistols Research Articles

People and guns involved in denied and completed handgun sales

Objective: Denial of handgun purchases by prohibited people and knowledge of the structure of gun commerce have helped to deter and prevent firearm violence. The authors hypothesize that handguns involved...

Application of lead isotope analysis in shooting incident investigations

A study was conducted to examine the potential of the considerable variability of the lead isotope compositions in bullets (projectiles) and primers in shooting incident investigations. Multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP/MS) was used to analyze lead isotopic compositions in projectiles, cartridge cases, firearms discharge residues (FDR) in barrels of firearms and in the gunshot entries. .22 caliber plain lead and plated ammunition and 9 mm Luger full metal jacket (FMJ) ammunition were employed in shooting experiments using semiautomatic pistols. Cotton cloth served as the target material and two firing distances were tested; 1 cm (near contact) and 2 m distances. It was observed that various mechanical or chemical means of cleaning do not completely remove lead deposits (“lead memory”) from barrels of firearms. Nonetheless, it was shown that analysis of lead isotopic composition may provide valuable evidence in investigating specific scenarios of shooting incidents. For instance in a shoot-out where several firearms and ammunition brands are involved, it may be feasible to point out which ammunition and/or firearm caused a particular gunshot entry if the ammunition brands involved (bullets and primers) differ considerably in their lead isotopic composition.

The life cycle of crime guns*1A description based on guns recovered from young people in california

<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Study objective</h3> We describe the life cycle of crime guns recovered from young people—the movement of those guns from manufacture to criminal use—and identify associations between the characteristics of those guns and their possessors, purchasers, sellers, and places of origin. <h3>Methods</h3> This is a cross-sectional study of data from gun ownership tracing records compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for 2,121 crime guns recovered in California from persons younger than 25 years and traced in 1999. Purchaser and seller data for handguns were updated when possible by linking to California handgun sales records. <h3>Results</h3> The 2,121 traced guns were recovered from 1,717 young people. Guns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years were most frequently also purchased by persons aged 21 to 24 years; those recovered from persons younger than 18 years were most often purchased by persons aged 45 years or older. Small-caliber handguns made up 41.0% of handguns recovered from persons younger than 18 years but 25.2% of handguns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years. The median time from sale to recovery (commonly called time to crime) for all guns was 6.4 years (interquartile range 2.7 to 12.4 years). A time to crime of less than 3 years, suggesting deliberate gun trafficking, was observed for 17.3% of guns recovered from persons younger than 18 years but 34.6% of guns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years. Ten retailers who sold 10 or more traced guns accounted for 13.1% of all guns traced to a retailer. Handguns whose purchaser and possessor were the same person were more likely than others to be large-caliber semiautomatic pistols (29.3% and 11.7%, respectively); their median time to crime was 0.2 years (69 days). <h3>Conclusion</h3> Analysis of crime-gun ownership traces reveals patterns that may help refine gun violence prevention efforts and render them more effective.

The life cycle of crime guns: a description based on guns recovered from young people in California.

We describe the life cycle of crime guns recovered from young people-the movement of those guns from manufacture to criminal use-and identify associations between the characteristics of those guns and their possessors, purchasers, sellers, and places of origin. This is a cross-sectional study of data from gun ownership tracing records compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for 2,121 crime guns recovered in California from persons younger than 25 years and traced in 1999. Purchaser and seller data for handguns were updated when possible by linking to California handgun sales records. The 2,121 traced guns were recovered from 1,717 young people. Guns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years were most frequently also purchased by persons aged 21 to 24 years; those recovered from persons younger than 18 years were most often purchased by persons aged 45 years or older. Small-caliber handguns made up 41.0% of handguns recovered from persons younger than 18 years but 25.2% of handguns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years. The median time from sale to recovery (commonly called time to crime) for all guns was 6.4 years (interquartile range 2.7 to 12.4 years). A time to crime of less than 3 years, suggesting deliberate gun trafficking, was observed for 17.3% of guns recovered from persons younger than 18 years but 34.6% of guns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years. Ten retailers who sold 10 or more traced guns accounted for 13.1% of all guns traced to a retailer. Handguns whose purchaser and possessor were the same person were more likely than others to be large-caliber semiautomatic pistols (29.3% and 11.7%, respectively); their median time to crime was 0.2 years (69 days). Analysis of crime-gun ownership traces reveals patterns that may help refine gun violence prevention efforts and render them more effective.

The life cycle of crime guns: A description based on guns recovered from young people in california

Study objective We describe the life cycle of crime guns recovered from young people—the movement of those guns from manufacture to criminal use—and identify associations between the characteristics of those guns and their possessors, purchasers, sellers, and places of origin. Methods This is a cross-sectional study of data from gun ownership tracing records compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for 2,121 crime guns recovered in California from persons younger than 25 years and traced in 1999. Purchaser and seller data for handguns were updated when possible by linking to California handgun sales records. Results The 2,121 traced guns were recovered from 1,717 young people. Guns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years were most frequently also purchased by persons aged 21 to 24 years; those recovered from persons younger than 18 years were most often purchased by persons aged 45 years or older. Small-caliber handguns made up 41.0% of handguns recovered from persons younger than 18 years but 25.2% of handguns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years. The median time from sale to recovery (commonly called time to crime) for all guns was 6.4 years (interquartile range 2.7 to 12.4 years). A time to crime of less than 3 years, suggesting deliberate gun trafficking, was observed for 17.3% of guns recovered from persons younger than 18 years but 34.6% of guns recovered from persons aged 21 to 24 years. Ten retailers who sold 10 or more traced guns accounted for 13.1% of all guns traced to a retailer. Handguns whose purchaser and possessor were the same person were more likely than others to be large-caliber semiautomatic pistols (29.3% and 11.7%, respectively); their median time to crime was 0.2 years (69 days). Conclusion Analysis of crime-gun ownership traces reveals patterns that may help refine gun violence prevention efforts and render them more effective.

Impact of handgun types on gun assault outcomes: a comparison of gun assaults involving semiautomatic pistols and revolvers

Objective: To examine whether gun assaults committed with semiautomatic pistols are more injurious and lethal than those committed with revolvers. Setting: Jersey City, New Jersey from 1992 through 1996. Methods:...

Missing the target: a comparison of buyback and fatality related guns

Objectives: To determine whether the firearms recovered in buyback programs in a large urban community are the types most closely associated with firearm fatalities in the same geographic area. Methods:...

Firearm Design and Firearm Violence

<h3>To the Editor.</h3> —A product-oriented approach to firearm violence is fraught with pitfalls, as even Dr Wintemute admits,¹and may indeed result in unintended, counterproductive effects. The banning by policymakers of a product today because of its lethality or perceived prevalence in crime may well lead to the substitution of even more lethal weapons in the future. Therein lies one of the frailties of Dr Wintemute's product-oriented focus on firearm-related crime. Despite his self-effacing denial that he is not advocating any particular product-based policy agenda, the gist of his article is clear. Because in selected studies medium- to large-caliber semiautomatic pistols appear to be more prevalent in firearm-related homicides, policymakers might do well to consider banning them. What then are policymakers to do when large-caliber revolvers become the criminals' weapon of choice? If the vast majority of homicides occur in circumstances in which long guns could be substituted for

Violence in America: Guns-Reply

In Reply. —The weapons that Dr Kleber had in mind during my interview with him1include guns such as the Tec-9 and the Tec-22, manufactured by Intratec (Miami, Fla). Other companies manufacture similar weapons. The Tec-9 carries a clip of 32 rounds, the Tec-22 carries a clip of 30. are described as semiautomatic pistols. Thus, Dr Kohanski is correct in bringing me to task for describing such weapons as guns. A semiautomatic weapon requires a pull of the trigger for each round to be fired; a machine gun will continue firing until the ammunition runs out, as long as the trigger is held back. However, the point may well be only a technical distinction. The March 10, 1992, issue of theNew York Timesquoted LeRoy Martin, Superintendent of Police in Chicago, Ill, commenting on these weapons: They are designed to spray whole groups of people, and

So-called accidental firearm fatalities in children and teenagers in Tennessee, 1961-1988.

Tennessee State medical examiner reports of firearm fatalities classified as accidents involving victims aged 19 year or less from 1961 through 1988, were reviewed to evaluate circumstantial and contributing factors. A total of 225 were analyzed. The peak age for victims was 17 years, and there were more than five times more male than female victims. In Shelby County (Memphis), the racial distribution of fatalities was approximately that of the general population. Playing with a gun was the most frequent circumstance. The person responsible for pulling the trigger was equally likely to be a friend, a family member, or the victim. Head or neck were injured in most cases. The urban mortality rate was nearly twice that of the rural rate. More than half of the deaths in urban counties occurred indoors and involved handguns, whereas in rural counties only a third were due to handguns and the location was more often outdoors. Deaths in rural counties showed a seasonal variation that corresponded with the hunting season; by contrast, a peak in early summer was noted in the urban deaths. Defective guns or guns unsafe in design caused several deaths. (Semiautomatic pistols, which can be fired after unloading the ammunition magazine, are conspicuous examples of guns unsafe in design.) An important observation of this study is that medical examiners vary considerably in their classification of accidental manner, particularly when children are involved. Furthermore, medical examiner reports need to include much more information than is currently recorded if they are to be useful in guiding public policy to reduce firearm injuries.

Evaluation of Staple Impressions in the Scanning Electron Microscope

Use of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) for examination of tool marks, paricularly firing pin impressions of semi-automatic pistols, selected shotguns and rifles, is well documented. It was the intent of this investigation to apply SEM to staplers, in order to examine if the impressions on the shoe-ends of staples using a particular stapler possessed persisting defects with repeated tackings, and whether these defects can be used as “individual characteristics” in order to be able to identify the source of a staple on tacked papers from a list of eight staplers of different makes and models (Swingline® 747 and 27, ASCO® 40 and ACE® 102). The effects of pre-existing marks, which are usually existent as parallel striations on staples, and the different forms (100% round, 100% round with sharp points and chisel points) of staples on the resulting impression were examined by using different brands of staples (Swingline® standard No. S.F.-1, Swingline® R. W.-35, Bostitch® standard, and ACE® 2025).

Recent Book: Gunpoints: A Handbook on the Primary Identification of Revolvers and Semiautomatic Pistols

Recent Book: Gunpoints: A Handbook on the Primary Identification of Revolvers and Semiautomatic Pistols

Evaluation of SEM Potential in the Examination of Shotgun and Rifle Firing Pin Impressions

Abstract Recently the scanning electron microscope (SEM) was successfully used for an indepth study of firing pin impressions of semiautomatic pistols [1]. The SEM's great depth of field was shown to reveal detail in the impression (far superior to optical microscopy) which could be successfully used for comparison purposes. It was thus the intent of this investigation to extend the work on pistols to shotguns and rifles, in order to see if their firing pin impressions possessed similar class characteristics and identifying features with repeated firings. In addition to this, the effect of preexisting primer marks on the resulting firing pin impression was also studied.