This is really more of an addendum to my previous
Gun Control post.
While researching information for something else, I noticed a trend in the number of murders committed with an unknown type of firearm. As I posted in the Gun Control post, there are three possible answers on the Uniform Crime Report with regards to homicide and types of weapons. Those being, Handgun, Rifle, or Shotgun. In addition to listing the type of weapon, the person filling out the form, must also include how the weapon was used. An example in the Handbook is a perpetrator using a glass bottle. While a glass bottle would normally be considered a blunt object, if it's broken, and used to cut or stab, then the FBI will show it as a cutting weapon instead of a blunt weapon. The same is true for a shotgun. If a shotgun is used as a bat, instead of a shooting instrument, it will be listed as a blunt object instead of a firearm.
If a piece of pipe is used in a homicide, but that pipe contained a shotgun shell, and the cause of death was from being shot, then the weapon will be listed as a firearm, but will be listed as firearm "type unknown". This is not to say that all of the homicides listed under firearm type unknown on table 20 are from homemade firearms. Sometimes a person will be killed with a firearm but the firearm isn't recovered and that too will be listed as firearm type unknown. ALSO, a homemade zip gun using shotgun shells will be listed as firearm type shotgun. Unfortunately, there are no clear instructions in the handbook on how to list homemade firearms and with 14,478 homicide reports being submitted, in 2010, to the FBI, we 14,478 descriptions of weapons used. On to the visual aid....