The air rifle: a dangerous weapon.

The air rifle: a dangerous weapon Airgun injuries are common among children. Though several reports of eye and soft-tissue injuries have been published, intra-abdominal injuries are apparently rare. I report a case of gastric perforation by an airgun pellet, which exemplifies the potentially lethal injuries that these weapons can inflict. Though the current laws restricting the possession and use of air weapons are adequate, no effort is made to educate either children or parents in the potential danger of these "toys."2 Case report A 12-year-old boy presented with a pellet wound in the abdomen after being shot with a *22 calibre air rifle from a distance of 4-3 m. Examination disclosed an entry wound over the left costal margin but no signs of haemorrhage or peritoneal irritation. Radiographs in two planes showed the pellet lying posteriorly in the right upper abdomen (figure). Anteroposterior and lateral radiographs showing pellet in upper abdomen. At laparotomy the pellet track was found to pass obliquely turough the abdominal wall and left lobe of the liver. The pellet had punctured the antrum and was lying within the lumen of the duodenum. The wounds were sutured and the pellet left to pass down the intestinal tract. The child made an uneventful recovery. Comment There have been few reports of air-weapon injuries,'-3 but all have emphasised their potentially serious nature. Most injuries are to the head, particularly the orbit,2 the thorax, and the extremities.' There has been only one reported case of perforated viscus after abdominal injury.3 The belief that airguns are harmless and have little penetrating power is widespread among children and their parents. This is not the case. The pellet in our patient penetrated to a depth of about seven inches, and the weapon concerned was a rifle commonly bought for children. The law restricts the sale of guns without a certificate to air weapons with a muzzle energy of less than 1-7 kg m (12 foot-pounds),4 but such an "unclassified" weapon can produce power far in excess of this. In the phenomenon of "dieseling"5 oil in the barrel is combusted by the heat generated by the passage of the pellet down the barrel. The resultant explosion gives the pellet much greater velocity and unexpected penetrating power. The law on air weapons restricts their use to children over the age of 14,4 but such evidence as exists suggests that the age of the shooter in …