Shot Through the Heart—Firepower and Potential Lethality of Air Weapons

Abstract

Although certain air weapons attain muzzle velocities comparable to some firearms, their successful use for committing suicide is rarely seen. Herein, we report a case of a young female died shortly after urgent admission to the hospital with penetrating gunshot wound to the chest. The autopsy revealed perforation of the pericardium and two perforative defects to the right heart ventricle. Injury was inflicted by a 0.177 caliber pellet, fired from an air rifle found near her body. Investigation ruled the death as suicide. The used air rifle fired the pellet with the energy density of 1.9 J/mm(2) , substantially above the threshold for inflicting injury. The pellet penetrated through two layers of cotton fabric and several layers of tissue to inflict fatal injury to the heart. In addition, we provide an insight into the wounding potential of air weapons, which illustrates the need for greater caution in handling those devices.

Laparoscopic extirpation of an intra-abdominal compressed air firearm pellet in a grownup: a rare case report

“…[5][6][7] There have additionally been recorded lethal wounds to the thorax and major vessels, including an instance of suicide, wherein an air rifle pellet entered the right ventricle. 8 Intra-abdominal damage has likewise been accounted for in the writing and has been overseen both operatively and non-operatively. A case series report mentioned five kids with enteric perforation required laparotomy because of the accidental injury by air gun pellet.…”

Laparoscopic retrieval of an intra-abdominal air gun pellet

“…A number of air gun-related fatalities have occurred with injury to the head, face and neck 7–9. There have also been documented fatal injuries to the thorax and major vessels, including a case of suicide, in which an air rifle pellet penetrated the right ventricle 10. A 6-year-old child died in Macedonia when an air gun pellet penetrated the aorta causing cardiac tamponade 11.…”

Empirical evaluation of spring powered air rifle storage and modifications on forensic practice and casework

“…Too much oil can increase the forward motion of the working parts to the extent that the piston may impact the transfer port, damaging it. Dieseling may also occur; a phenomenon where excess oil combusts, increasing muzzle velocity [11,12] by up to 50 % [13]. Caunt [31] trialled 12 fuels and oils to see the effect on velocity and dieseling in air rifles.…”

“…This test was designed to investigate how gun storage affects muzzle velocity and establish if and when this action could result in dieseling. The test was not designed to mimic the addition of a signficant amount of oil previously shown to result in the dieselling phenomenom [11][12][13]31,32].…”

“…For example, in England and Wales, pellets discharged from an air rifle must be below 12 foot pounds (ft lb) (16.3 joules, J) [6,7] in kinetic (muzzle) energy [8], whereas other European countries use 7.5 J (5.53 ft lb) for all airguns [9,10] and US federal law does not classify airguns as firearms at all [2]. Regardless of differences in legislative definition, air rifles under 12 ft lb cause injuries and fatalities each year internationally [11][12][13], demonstrating that air weapons are often misused despite gun controls. Due to variations in international gun law, this paper focuses its discussions on the UK legal context where 37 % of reported gun offences involved air weapons and 72 % of these resulted in property damage in a 12 month period [14].…”