Converted Prop Guns Are Assassins’ Weapon of Choice

Converted Prop Guns Are Assassins’ Weapon of Choice

אילוסטרציה

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

Illustration
Illustration

Prop guns are converted to deadly weapons. Blank-firing guns make for fun movie props and nice showpieces. But with the right tweaks, they can be just as deadly as the real thing.

According to a new report by Small Arms Survey, a non-governmental research project based in Switzerland, the conversion of blank-firing, replica and other less-than-lethal handguns, is a growing problem for countries looking to crack down on gun-related crime. Converted guns might not work very well, but they are cheap, disposable and largely untraceable, all attractive features to would-be crooks and assassins.

In Russia, assassins have used converted pistols to murder dissident journalist Anna Politkovskaya and Yuri Budanov, a controversial former Russian army officer who served in Chechnya.

Converted blank guns, mostly in the form of pistols which are showing up in weapons seizures and at crime scenes by the thousands, signaling a large demand. In Germany, the report notes, roughly two-thirds of all firearms seized by authorities in 2012 were converted weapons.

The skills required to convert a gun from firing blanks to firing bullets aren’t hard to come by. “It’s actually quite easy,” Ben King, author of the Small Arms Survey report, told War Is Boring. “For some [blank-firing guns] there’ll be an obstruction in the barrel that can be screwed out or drilled out,” he adds. “That takes pretty basic tools.”

In the United States, where guns are plentiful and laws regulating ownership are more lax, converted weapons don’t show up often at crime scenes.

Register to iHLS Israel Homeland Security

Converted Prop GunsThe situation is different in Europe, where gun laws are stricter. Scottish police have noticed that converted “showstopper” guns are increasingly being used by organized criminal groups.

Even in some conflict-wracked Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Yemen – where weapons are plentiful – converted pistols are still popular because they’re relatively cheap. “There is a demand for concealable weapons and this is a more affordable option in certain places,” King said.

For instance, Small Arms Survey reports that converted pistols have saturated Libya since the collapse of the Muammar Gaddafi regime. The pistols sell for around $125 – a fraction of the $1,600 to $4,100 price that real handguns fetch on the black market.

Would-be converters can find blank guns manufactured in any number of countries. But Turkish models, including the Atak Zoraki and Ekol-Voltran, are among the most popular choices. “Turkey has several different manufacturers and they’re being made at pretty high quality,” King said. “They’re using metals and they’re basing the designs very closely to the actual firearms.”

King notes that, at least in Europe, a varying patchwork of laws governing the possession and conversion of replica, blank-firing and other types of less-than-lethal firearms is a contributor to their availability. As a result, Europe’s close integration and lack of borders makes buying and selling converted and convertible firearms easier. Also, as ever, where there’s demand, supply finds a way. For now at least, these replicas are plentiful and close enough to the real thing for buyers to find what they want.