title: A case of suicide using a home-modified gun.
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.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Pedagogiche, Psicologiche e Didattiche, Università degli Studi del Salento-Lecce, Italy. forem@ateneo.unile.it
authors.forename: Nunzio
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Nunno
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Viola
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Colucci
authors.forename: Cosimo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Nunno
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Costantinides
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004867:Equipment Design; D005389:Firearms; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D013405:Suicide; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000473:pathology*; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000473:pathology*