Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2440/56789
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Type: Journal article
Title: Black powder handgun deaths remain an uncommon event
Author: Hartwig, S.
Tsokos, M.
Byard, R.
Citation: American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 2009; 30(4):350-353
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Issue Date: 2009
ISSN: 0195-7910
1533-404X
Statement of
Responsibility: 
Sven Hartwig, Michael Tsokos, and Roger W. Byard
Abstract: Although it was predicted that there would be an increase in the use of black powder guns due to their greater ease of procurement with less government control on sales, this does not seem to have been the general experience. To determine the rate of use of black powder handguns in shooting deaths in Berlin, Germany, review of the files of the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin was conducted over a 10-year period from 1997 to 2006. Out of total 85 gunshot deaths, there were only 3 where black powder handguns were used (3.5%). The cases involved 3 males aged 55, 62, and 63 years, respectively, all of whom had committed suicide with black powder percussion handguns, using 0.45, 0.56, and 0.36 caliber weapons. The source of the guns could not be determined. Wounds were characterized by excessive soot and propellant soiling and tattooing. The low number of fatalities involving black powder guns in a large forensic institution in Berlin, Germany, suggests that limiting access to such weapons would have little effect on total numbers of gunshot deaths. Simple loading mechanisms and reliability appear to be more important features influencing the choice of a handgun, rather than mere availability.
Keywords: black powder
handgun
suicide
gunshot wound
Description: Copyright: © 2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
DOI: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181c1318b
Published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/paf.0b013e3181c1318b
Appears in Collections:Aurora harvest
Pathology publications

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