Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Directed Research Project
First Advisor
Emanuele Alves
Second Advisor
Stephanie Walcott
Third Advisor
Carol Babyak
Abstract
Gun violence is heavily prevalent in the United States with approximately 20,000 deaths and 36,000 injuries due to firearms in 2023. The differing political ideologies surrounding gun laws in the United States are reflected in the drastic variation of restrictions from state to state. States with weak gun laws like Mississippi and Wyoming have increased death rates due to firearms. Mississippi and Wyoming have death rates of 29.7 and 20.6 per 100,000 residents, respectively with the national average at 14.4. States like California and Massachusetts that have more strict gun laws have deaths of 8.7 and 3.7 per 100,000 residents, respectively. In cases that involve death or injury due to a firearm, one key piece of forensic evidence examined is gunshot residue (GSR). Current and past research involving GSRs typically focus on the shooter rather than the target material. This study seeks to investigate the development of a databank consisting of the inorganic GSR profiles of the most popular ammunition sold in the U.S. to aid in the identification of different ammunition. GSR patterns were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) to identify and quantify inorganic metals commonly found in varying ammunition types: more specifically targeting lead, barium, antimony, copper nickel, zinc. Five ammunition types were used for the qualitative identification of the inorganic metals: Remington UMC, PMC Bronze, Federal Guard Dog, Black Hills, and Hornady Critical Defense. The quantified heavy metal concentrations for each of the ammunition types along with the support of principal component analysis (PCA) indicated that ammunition types can be differentiated based on the semi-quantitative inorganic GSR profile. Remington UMC and PMC Bronze ammunition had very similar inorganic GSR profiles, while Federal Guard Dog, Black Hills, and Hornady Critical Defense ammunition had differing, unique inorganic GSR profiles. However, further analysis of the organic components using an orthogonal method, such as chromatography, should be performed to confirm and support the results from the inorganic analysis.
Rights
© The Author(s)
Is Part Of
VCU Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects
Date of Submission
4-30-2024