Match The Criminal To The Weapon (2024)

FAQs

What is firearms identification? ›

The Firearms discipline examines and compares bullets, cartridge cases, and shotgun shells to determine if they were fired from a particular firearm. This work is part of the forensic discipline known as Firearms Identification.

Forensic ballistics involves the examination of evidence from firearms that may have been used in a crime. When a bullet is fired from a gun, the gun leaves microscopic marks on the bullet and cartridge case. These marks are like ballistic fingerprints.

Because each barrel will have imperfections left by the manufacturing process that will leave unique marks on a bullet, firearm examiners can determine whether a bullet recovered from a crime scene or victim was fired from a weapon taken from a suspect.

National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) | Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

By examining unique striations impressed into a bullet from the barrel of a gun, expended ammunition can be linked back to a specific weapon. These striations are due to the rifling inside the barrels of firearms. Rifling spins the bullet when it is fired out of the barrel to improve precision.

It could be stuck in a material, like the plaster in a wall. But forensic scientists – not police officers – are still able to examine these bullets and then match them to the grooves, markings and imperfections left by a suspected firearm.

Generally, there are three types of firearms: rifles, shotguns and handguns. The three basic parts of a modern firearm are: action, which loads, fires and ejects ammunition. barrel, a metal tube that the projectile passes through.

The term ballistics refers to the science of the travel of a projectile in flight. The flight path of a bullet includes: internal travel down the barrel, external path through the air, and terminal path through a target. The wounding potential of projectiles is a complex matter. ( Euteneuer and Courts, 2021)

Once the evidence is collected and submitted to the crime laboratory, the firearms examiner can take digital images of the markings made on spent ammunition or from test firing the gun and enter them into a national database called NIBIN, the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network.

The longest time I have lifted prints after was about six months. But the prints are made by skin oils clinging to the fingertips, so it won't evaporate. As long as the oil isn't washed away and nothing is dragged across it I would expect it to stay for years. I am a certified and court qualified fingerprint examiner.

Can you match a bullet to a specific gun? ›

A barrel will produce individual markings in addition to a bullet's land and groove impressions as the bullet passes through, and it is these unique markings that an examiner evaluates to determine whether a given bullet was fired from a particular firearm.

12 Gauge shotshells can be entered into NIBIN. Pellets can be examined to determined shot size. Wadding can be examined to determine gauge, manufacturer and for individual markings that can be compared to test fires from the shotgun.

Although the examiner cannot determine who actually fired a weapon, matching the ammunition to a weapon provides vital facts for the investigation.

The timeframe from the recovery of ballistic evidence (crime guns and cartridge cases) to the notification of a NIBIN lead to all affected investigators should ideally occur within 24 to 48 hours.

"Factory-produced firearms bear serial numbers." So factory producers and federally licensed gun dealers are required by U.S. law to maintain records for their inventory of serial numbers of all firearms and to report both the guns' serial numbers and the purchasers' names.

Magnifications typically used in firearms identification are 5X, 10X, 20X, 30X, and 40X. It is not unusual however to see these lower powered scopes referred to a microscopes.

The process of testing firearms, components of firearms subject to testing, and inspection of cartridges aims to ensure the safety of the user. The testing process includes pre-shooting checks, a test shooting and post-shooting checks. Test shooting takes place using test cartridges.

The smoke and gas that comes out of the gun along with the bullet typically contains particles of unburnt gunpowder, tiny bits of metal, and signature chemicals from the primer mixture (usually lead, antimony, and barium), which get fused together from the heat of the firing and settle on the person's skin, clothing, ...