Citation

Di Nunno N, Viola L, Colucci M, Di Nunno C, Costantinides F. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2009; 30(1): 52-56.

Affiliation

Dipartimento di Scienze Pedagogiche, Psicologiche e Didattiche, Universita degli Studi del Salento-Lecce, Italy. forem@ateneo.unile.it

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181873763

PMID

19237856

Abstract

The problem of the possibility of modifying blank cartridge dummy firearms to make them fire a real bullet has long been known, but the phenomenon has been constantly on the increase in the recent years. In Italy, there are no restrictions on the purchase of an inoffensive weapon. However, few modifications are frequently enough to transform the inoffensive weapon into a harmful one: a procedure is often undertaken to avoid the mandatory control and registration of firearms. We describe a case of suicide of a man in Trieste, Italy, in 2002, with a blank cartridge dummy pistol that had been modified to fire homemade bullets.

Language: en