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Wednesday, February 6, 2019

FightWrite - Wounds by Firearms Pt 1


If the setting of your manuscript is the good ole U. S. of A. and it contains a violent crime with a weapon, statistically, that weapon will be a gun. That's why there's a whole chapter on guns as well as gun injuries in my book. Be on the lookout for it June, 2019 with Writer's Digest. 

According to Criminal Justice Information Services Division 2016 report, of the 15,070 murder weapons used in the United States, 11,004 were firearms. What that means for us as writers is that we need to be familiar both with firearms and what they do. (Choose these links for a review of handguns and rifles/shotguns.) 

In this first installment we are going to look at how to NOT handle a gun, some statistics regarding gun injuries and exactly how guns do damage. Hint: It's not just because the bullet makes a hole.

How to NOT Shoot a Gun (In good conscience, I have to include this.)



Guns by the Numbers
Where are our characters most likely to be shot? 
Well that depends on the circumstances of the shooting: assault versus unintentional. But, in both cases, I think the facts will surprise you. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (yeesh, that's a mouthful) the area most likely to struck by a bullet is the legs and feet. 


(1)

Mode of transport to hospital (1):
Ambulance/EMS - 69%
Air Transport - 2
Private Vehicle - 13 
Walk-in/police - 6
Unknown (We all know it was a dragon) - 7

Medical outcome for firearm injuries in the U.S.(1):
ER visit, treatment and release - 31%
Hospitalization and release -  36%
Death - 33%

Fatal injuries by firearm(1): Men - 86%, Women - 14
Nonfatal injuries by firearm (1): Men - 90, Women - 10

Fatal injuries by age (1):
0-14 years   2.4%
15-24          42.7
25-34          27.4
35-44          12.1
45-54           8.0
55-64           3.9
65+              3.2

Approximate number of fatalities by firearm type (2):
handgun - 64%
not stated - 28
rifles - 4
shotguns - 3
other - 2

How Guns Do Damage

When a bullet enters the body, the energy that put it there dissipates and creates a cavity. That cavity stretches, distorts, and compresses the surrounding tissue. This is known as blast effect and the faster the bullet, the greater the blast effect; as well, the greater the bodily damage. If the bullet tumbles or oscillates within the body, the potential for damage increases even more.

Here's a video on exactly what a bullet does to tissue. Notice that even though the entry wound looks like a tidy hole, the skin expanded and contracted greatly with the initial impact. It's pretty shocking. There's also a bit about bullet proof vests.




Damage Done by Different Guns
One way to see the sort of damage a gun can do is to whack a watermelon. 




What if the bullet isn't fired from a gun. Is it still dangerous? For those of you looking for creative ways to kill with a bullet, this video is for you. (I love Hickok45 on YouTube. Fantastic resource and just a charming fella.)




In our next round on FightWrite.net we will look at the sort of wounds created by firearms. Until then, I leave you with a beautiful disarm by Victor Marx and the perfect disarm by Master Ken. OSS and get blood on your pages!






What questions do you have regarding bullet wounds? Comment below to be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card!




(1) ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4700838/
(2) statista.com/statistics/195325/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-weapon-used/



20 comments:

  1. Loved Master Ken! And thanks for the great videos. Bookmarking them so I can refer back.

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  2. I guess I never thought of the skin stretching on impact. I would of thought more that it separated the skin like a pin point knife. Interesting stuff in here.

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    Replies
    1. It's shocking isn't it! It makes the damage a bullet does much more logical. It doesn't just make a hole like you would think.

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  3. interesting info
    bn100candg at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  4. If a bullet is unreachable in the body to remove it safely how does it affect the body over time? Does it ever move or shift?
    tumcsec(at)gmail(dot)com
    Gail Hollingsworth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it is a modern bullet without lead and there's no chance it could move and cause issues, I think it would be fine. I would imagine there would be lasting aches and pains as with any bullet injury. Especially when it's cold outside!

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  5. What are statistics on one bullet killing two people by going through one person. Or how plausible is that scenario? How about not killing the first subject but killing the second? What are statistics on ricocheted bulltes killing someone.

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    Replies
    1. That all depends on the gun. A 22 won't even exit the other side of the skull. You need a hearty bullet and how far you are from the target matters too.

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  6. My husband taught me how to shoot and at our church our ladies had a lesson on gun safety and we learned how to shoot all different types of guns. My only concern is if I ever had to shoot someone to protect myself or my loved ones could I do it?
    faithdcreech at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is a very common concern and why you practice shooting regularly without hesitation. Aim, fire. That way, it becomes more muscle memory than a moral decision.

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  7. Are guns and ammo able to be printed on a 3D printer and used effectively?

    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    Replies
    1. Not for more than one or two shots and I'd think it would need to be a small caliber bullet. The material just isn't sturdy enough to handle a great amount of energy. I'd be scared to shoot one. It's a good question though. The gun wouldn't make a metal detector go off but a regular bullet would. If you used a 3D bullet, you'd get through security but how much damage could you really do?

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  8. This is a very intriguing post. So much that I've never known about guns and their impact, etc. I was involved in a leadership class and we were given to fire a gun at a firing range. I have considered getting my concealed weapons license.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Connie
    cps1950(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Get. It. And carry the gun on your person not in your purse. My judo coach is former special forces and a former law enforcement officers. (He's only 5'6" too! :) ) He says the most effective martial arts are "cha-ching! and ku-chunk" Those are sounds a hand gun and rifle make, respectively, when you load them. :) He's a character!

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  9. This is fascinating! I've never really thought about some of these things before. It's amazing the things you need to research to write an accurate story. Thanks for sharing this!
    whthomas13 at yahoo dot com

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    Replies
    1. Winnie, you are the winner of the Amazon gift card! Email me at carlahoch@yahoo.com.

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    2. Woohoo! That's awesome! Thanks a bunch!

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  10. Writing is so much tougher than readers know! And, the better you are at writing, the easier you make it seem. I wish there could be a last page in books where the author could bemoan the process! "Yall don't even know how hard it was to write this book and how messy my house got!"

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