NCJ Number
76454
Date Published
1976
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Modifications and fabrication of armaments among terrorist groups are described including ammunition modification, modification of existing weapons for special purposes, and fabrication of weapons from common materials available in industrialized societies.
Abstract
Most ammunition fabrication efforts are directed toward increasing the damage which can be caused to victims. Terrorists use common objects such as nails and glass as well as dum-dum bullets to increase wound damage and the impact which such wounds have on spectators. Terrorists commonly modify existing weapons by sawing off the barrels of shotguns and converting semiautomatic weapons available over the counter into fully automatic ones, by fabricating silencers to fit onto commercially available weapons, and by modifying nonfiring replicas and blank pistols to fire live ammunition. Weapons developed from scratch permit terrorists to travel freely without running the risk of being arrested for possessing weapons. These arms include pen guns which fire both standard ammunition and poison-tipped darts, handguns designed to look like plumbing materials, and guns constructed in the form of tools. Firearms have also been designed as parts of cameras, flashlights, and tobacco pipes. Drawings are included.