ABSTRACT
Modern era has witnessed extensive use of firearms as a weapon of offense for a variety of purposes ranging from petty crime to gang/ militant warfare. Being an effective device for propelling a projectile from a considerable distance with sufficient velocity and wounding capability, it has become the weapon of choice for homicidal purposes and so also for antisocial activities, such as militancy, rigging of elections, communal riots, gang war, drugs smuggling, public demonstrations, etc. The consequential fallout is the everincreasing demand for firearms for criminal and antisocial activities. A wide variety of firearms are readily available for military and civilian purposes. The firearms that can conveniently be carried and operated by one person are of interest in the forensic field. They include service and hunting rifles, revolvers and pistols, carbines and submachine guns, shotguns and muzzle loaders, to name a few. These firearms are commonly used in crimes. In recent years, the use of illegally produced firearms has increased exponentially worldwide. Frequent seizures of a variety of illegally made firearms and unearthing of substandard/ clandestine firearm factories in various countries, which are documented, include the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and France as well as ones in Latin American countries, South Africa, China, India, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries.
