There have been no incidents on planes involving the legally sold weapon, and a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration said no travelers have been stopped trying to bring one onto an airliner since federally trained screeners began working at airports 19 months ago. "If no one had ever seen our product, 80 percent of them would not know what it is." "If I put it on the table, no one will know it's a pistol," said Marc Lefebvre, who described himself as a major investor in the weapon's maker, Stinger Manufacturing Corp. The weapon in this scenario is the Pengun, a single-shot pistol under 6 inches long designed to look to the untrained eye just like a pen until it is reconfigured for firing.īecause of the weapon's shape when it is to be fired, the Pengun requires none of the special background checks the federal government requires for most so-called gadget guns - the kind of weapon so well concealed inside an everyday object that it is hard for the untrained eye to notice. When he clears the metal detector and collects his belongings, he's gotten a gun past security, right under the guard's eyes. 31, 2003 - The guy ahead of you in the airport security line empties his pockets into the plastic tray: keys, coins, wallet, pen. The use of one is out of convenience as it requires little to no modification, already having a pivot hole in place and a suitable striking surface.Oct. #22 cal pen gun plans zip#When fired the cartridge often jams in the rear of the slot and will take impressions matching the nail and the tubing.īelow is an FBI bulletin describing a similar zip gun which was seized in San Antonio, Texas in 1964:Īnother trend often employed was the use of a house key to serve as a hammer. A heavy rubber band is cut and both ends are taped at the front of the tube, the middle looped around and tapped to the back of the nail head in order to provide enough force to strike the cartridge. 22 cartridge is filed across the middle of the antenna tube to allow loading of a round into the oversized front ‘barrel’ section. Alternatively, the metal shaft of a screwdriver may also be used, the chisel edge already being well suited. The large nail slides into the back portion of the antenna tube and the tip is filed to the correct shape to successfully set off a round of. 25 caliber zip gun recently seized by police harks back to the classic door bolt types of the 50s.Īnother simple model which according to police reports at the time began turning up in large numbers in New York City used nothing more than a length of car radio antenna, a nail, a rubber band and two pieces of tape. The emergence of cheap commercially produced handguns may have contributed to the eventual fall in the number of improvised weapons being encountered towards the late ’60s, perhaps coupled with the decline in creative hands-on skills of teenagers.Ī. Zip guns would sometimes be produced as a group effort, often making use of a school workshop resulting in better precision and reliability through the use of superior materials and machine tools.Īlthough most of these may be extremely crude, such zero-cost disposable pistols became a serious concern for authorities at the time, often being used to seriously injure and sometimes kill. #22 cal pen gun plans how to#Because of their ease of construction and requiring no tools or expenses, knowledge of how to make zip guns quickly spread from street gang to street gang culminating in fairly standardized designs being adopted. Due to bullets tumbling due to lack of rifling, injuries inflicted can potentially be worse. Such weapons, while being extremely crude are just as capable as inflicting a lethal injury upon a close target as a conventional pistol. From then on it is a simple matter of fabricating a means of striking the rear of the cartridge while ensuring the entire assembly is held firmly together. 22 rimfire, find that such rounds will fit into a section of suitably sized steel tubing, often a section of the salvaged car radio antenna. A mechanically inclined youngster might upon obtaining ammunition, most often widely available. Closely associated with ‘juvenile delinquency’ of the 1950s, ‘zip guns’ were often fabricated by youngsters who could not afford to purchase or were forbidden from owning the genuine article.
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