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Handmade Guns in Trabzon, Turkey |
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| Authors: | Riza Yilmaz MD ; &#;smail Birincio&#;lu MD ; H Bulent Uner PhD ; Zerrin Erkol MD ; Celal Butun MD ; Dinc Acikgoz MD ; and Erkut R Bulut MD |
| Institution: | Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.; Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon TR-61040, Turkey.; Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul TR-34246, Turkey.; Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu TR-14100, Turkey.; Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas TR-58100, Turkey. |
| Abstract: | Abstract: A wide variety of handmade firearms have been involved in criminal cases in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Although they are often very similar to commercially manufactured firearms in terms of design, loading and locking mechanisms, and cocking and firing arrangements, these guns are constructed from cheap materials and are not safe for firing. Handmade firearms manufactured in the Black Sea region of Turkey, particularly in the city of Trabzon, are similar to pistols manufactured by Browning, Luger, Star, Smith and Wesson, Berretta, and MAB. A total of 201 handmade guns referred to the Criminal Police Laboratories for examination from 2003 to 2005 were evaluated with respect to type, number of barrels, size and caliber, rifling, design, mechanism, operability, legality, and similarity to commercial models. We found that most of these handmade guns resembled commercial models in several aspects. |
| Keywords: | forensic science ballistics handmade guns firearms firearm examiner criminal laboratories |