Guns, Guns, Guns with Lori Lake

Guns with Lori Lake

 

<pLoriSnow Moon Rising, a novel of survival set during World War II, which received a 2007 Golden Crown Literary Award as well as the 2007 Ann Bannon Popular Choice Award. She is the creator of the “Gun” series, which is a trilogy consisting of romance/police procedurals Gun Shy and Under The Gun and the adventure/thriller Have Gun We’ll Travel. Her first novel, Ricochet In Time, was about a hate crime. She has also written two books of short stories, a standalone romance, and edited two story anthologies. Lori teaches fiction writing courses at The Loft Literary Center, the largest independent writing community in the nation. She lives in Minnesota with her partner of 27 years and is currently at work on a mystery series and a How-To Book about the craft of writing. For more information, see her website at www.lorillake.com.

PART I

Modern hunting rifle with scope

I’ve always been interested in firearms, ever since I took a gun safety class at 14 so I could go out in the woods hunting with my uncles and cousin. I’ve studied firearms, read a couple dozen books about guns, and fired a number of weapons over the years. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but it’s been nice to become more knowledgeable about firearms because they’re an important topic for writing crime fiction.

Today I’ll talk about the kinds of guns professionals carry and the differences between types of firearms. Next week, in Part II, I’ll give you information about guns your sleuths might want to carry. The following week, in Part III, I’ll address the best guns for crooks and give further information about online places to research.

A Cornucopia of Guns!

I had the pleasure last month of shooting and examining a variety of firearms at the Oakdale Gun Club (www.oakdalegunclub.org) near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The members who sponsored and taught this session brought over 100 different weapons for us to shoot. I fired pistols and rifles and revolvers and a 12-gauge shotgun. I even fired two AR-15s (which are similar to the M-16s the military issues). One of the AR-15s had a scope, and I hit the red bulls-eye at 50 yards – pretty good for an AR-15 neophyte.

.223 AR-15 without scope

The first, and perhaps most important, information I learned all boils down to:

Four Simple Rules
1. Treat every gun as if it were loaded (even if you think it’s not). Always assume a gun is loaded and dangerous.

2. Control the muzzle at all times. Loaded or unloaded, the gun’s muzzle must always be pointed in a safe direction.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger. Your index finger belongs along the side of the gun until you’ve sighted in on your target. Many guns have “hair-trigger” response, meaning that the slightest pressure will fire the weapon. Most “accidental” discharges happen because the gun handler had a finger on the trigger and flinched or squeezed without intending to.

4. Be sure of what you’re shooting at, and above all, be sure of what is beyond your target. It does no good to take down a criminal in a hail of bullets if the shots go through the wall, out a window, or down the street and kill innocent bystanders.

After the safety issues were covered, I got the chance to ask a lot of questions and came away with ideas and opinions to share.

Glock 17, 19, and 26 (from top to bottom)

Glocks, Glocks Everywhere

Lately I see that many mystery writers have their sleuths and detectives automatically default to carrying Glocks. Everywhere you go in crime fiction, they’re packing Glocks.

Glocks are common in the real world; approximately two-thirds of all law enforcement, including the FBI and the DEA, now use the Glock handgun. Glocks are light, versatile, affordable weapons that possess excellent stopping power and are chambered for 9 mm, .40- and .45-caliber ammunition. St Paul, New York, Charleston, Miami, Denver, and many, many more cop shops carry this weapon.

A fictional police detective can’t go wrong with a Glock, but make sure that if you use a real police department in your fiction, you have your cops carrying the weapon that department does actually use.

On-Duty Department-Issued Sidearms

There are differences across the nation’s police departments in what sidearms are assigned to staff, but most police departments of any size designate a standard department weapon, give an annual stipend (usually between $600-$900), and require officers to qualify at specific marksmanship levels. Because officers may end up using each other’s weapons in the line of fire, many departments have found that requiring everyone to carry the same weapon reduced shooting errors, and ensured that cops could quickly handle and reload each other’s guns. Of course, no single size fits all, so many officers don’t like to be told what gun to carry, but they have to follow department regulations.

9mm Beretta 92FS

Other than Glocks, police sidearms often include the .45-caliber Kimber 1911, .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, or the 9mm Beretta (which is what the military issues). The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the largest Sheriff department in the U.S. with more than 9,000 sworn deputies, has carried the Beretta 92FS since 1988. Last time I checked, Minneapolis allows its officers to use the Glock or the Beretta, and Saint Paul used the Glock.

I was surprised to find out that Glocks are not necessarily the first choice for off-duty officers, sportsmen/competitors, and those who carry for personal protection. Glocks may not be the first choice for criminals either (more on this topic in Part II and Part III).

Until the 1990s the vast majority of police departments issued revolvers as the primary service weapon. Colts and Smith & Wesson revolvers in .38, .357, and .45-caliber were typical. Most police departments in the U.S. have seen the advantages of the semi-automatic pistol over the revolver. Semi-automatics hold more ammo, are faster to reload, and can deliver more firepower. Very few police departments in the U.S. still issue revolvers.

.357 Magnum Colt Python

Some small-town departments may still be carrying revolvers, though. There are law enforcement officials who swear by the revolver because it’s a weapon that rarely misfires. Of course, a typical .38 or .45 generally only pack six rounds, and they’re slow to load (unlike a semi-automatic handgun which uses pre-loaded magazines).

You may find on-duty officers carrying an extra weapon, perhaps in an ankle holster. One of my friends likes the S&W .38 Model 649 because there’s no external hammer, which means it doesn’t catch on socks or pant legs. The 649 is easy to handle and easy to conceal.

.38 or .357 Smith & Wesson Model 649 (with no external hammer)

If you use a real-life police department in your crime fiction, in order to be accurate, you should check out what your police department’s gun requirements are before you send your book to press.

Pistols, Revolvers, Semi-Automatics, and Fully Automatic Weapons

A Pistol, by definition, is a firearm designed to be used one-handed. All matchlock, flintlock, and percussion handguns are classified as pistols. In 1835, Samuel Colt invented the “repeating” pistol – more accurately a “revolving” pistol – which eventually came to be called a revolver, and later semi-auto and automatic pistols were invented.

In the category of Pistols, there are four common subcategories:

  • Single Shot Pistols
  • Revolving Pistols (Revolvers)
  • Semi-Automatic Pistols
  • Fully Automatic Pistols (usually constructed from semi-automatic pistols)

.41 RF Remington Derringer

Single Shot Pistols hold only one round of ammunition and must be reloaded and recocked after each shot. Nowadays common single shot pistols would include 1) the derringer or other type of tiny gun that’s easy to conceal, and 2) zip guns. The latter is an improvised handgun made from a piece of steel tubing that will hold one cartridge. (More on this in Part III about crooks’ weapons.)

A Revolving Pistol or Revolver is a repeating, multi-shot firearm. The rounds are held in a revolving cylinder that rotates as you pull the trigger in order to fire through a single barrel. Typical revolver cylinders contain five or six shells.

.380 Walther PPK (with holster and an extra magazine with belt clip)

A Semi-Automatic Pistol has a single chamber and a single barrel and fires one cartridge with each pull of the trigger. Semi-autos automatically re-cock and reload the next round with each trigger pull. This gun has a magazine which is loaded with cartridges. The user manually cycles the first cartridge from the magazine into the chamber, and then the gun operates by using the energy from the recoil of each round of fired ammunition to eject the used cartridge from the pistol’s chamber and load a new round into the chamber for the next shot. (Also called an “automatic pistol,” “autopistol,” “self-loading pistol,” and “self-loader.”)

Machine-Pistol version of the CZ-75 Self-Loading Pistol (which can be emptied in one burst)

Steyr TMP (9mm x 19)

Fully Automatic Pistols are “rapid-fire” firearms that automatically re-cock, reload, and fire as long as the trigger is consistently depressed or until the ammunition runs out. Semi-automatic handguns can be modified to make them fully automatic. For instance, many Glocks can be converted to fire 33 bullets in about two seconds with one trigger pull. Though legal in most states, due to their lethality, fully automatic handguns have special state registratation requirements and multiple restrictions under federal law.

Part I Summary

I was surprised to find out that Glocks are not necessarily the first choice for off-duty officers, sportsmen/competitors, and those who carry for personal protection. Glocks may not be the first choice for criminals either (more on this topic in Part II and Part III).

After shooting nearly two dozen weapons at the gun club, I came to the conclusion that firearms are rather complicated with a lot to know about types, caliber, cartridge capacity, action, frame size/weight, amount of recoil, and safeties – not to mention how to load and clean them. You can bet that gun owners are complicated and unique individuals as well. A person’s choice of handgun can be as individual as their choice of vehicle or their style of clothing. If you give all your characters Glocks, gun enthusiasts will roll their eyes, so I would challenge you to consider other weapons before settling on any one firearm for each of your characters, even if the Glock is popular and widely used.

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Things Writers Should Know About DNA: An Encore

DNA Testing

 

Sometimes, we just seem to get our tangs all tonguled up and use the wrong words in our stories. Perhaps we learned those incorrect little language units while watching television, or while reading a novel written by a die-hard CSI fan. Either way,  here’s some words and facts about DNA that all writers should know if their stories involves this area of forensics.

Terminology

ABI 310 Genetic Analyzer – capillary electrophoresis instrument used in laboratories for DNA testing.

 

ABI 310 Genetic Analyzer

Allele – an alternate form of a gene, such as hair color and the shape of your nose.

ASCLD – American Society of Crime Lab Directors.

 

Autoradiogram – a sort of x-ray picture of where radioactive probes have adhered to alleles. (It’s a picture of someone’s DNA).

 

Band – a picture of a DNA fragment.

Capillary Electrophoresis – a method of separating DNA using straw-like capillaries.

The scientist is pointing to the eight capillaries.

Chromosome – a very large piece of DNA.

23 pairs of chromsomes. Males have one Y and one X chromosome. Females have two X chromosomes.

CODIS – Combined DNA Index system. Established in 1998.

Degradation – chemical or physical breakdown of DNA.

Electrophoresis – method of separating DNA molecules using an electric field.

Gel electrophoresis

Electropherogram – A plotted printout of DNA test results.

Gel – medium used in electrophoresis to separate DNA.

Forensic Facts

Loading DNA into gel.

Genome – an organism’s genetic composition.

Locus – Location of a gene on a chromosome. (pl. Loci)

Mitochondrial DNA – DNA transferred only from mother to child.

STR – repetition of four tandomly repeated nucleotides. The FBI typically uses 13 STR loci in forensic analysis.

DNA Facts:

Identical twins have identical DNA.

Humans are genetically 99.9% identical. Only 0.1% of our genetic makeup is different.

It takes about eight hours for one cell to copy its own DNA.

Red blood cells do not contain DNA.

DNA is used to determine pedigree in livestock.

DNA is used to authenticate wine and caviar.

Detergent and Alcohol will not destroy DNA.

DNA can be transferred from article of clothing to another, even in a washing machine. This is called secondary and tertiary transfer.

DNA testing is not 100% accurate.

Criminal cases involving DNA evidence are usually quite serious in nature (homicide, rape, etc.). Less than 1% of that DNA evidence is reviewed by defense attorneys.

*I’m traveling this week and my internet access is quite limited. I hope you enjoy these reflections of past Graveyard Shift shift posts. I’ll check in when I can.

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Lisa Provost: My First Solo Crime Scene

Lisa Provost: The Body

Born in August 1974, in Brooklyn, NY., Lisa Provost grew up in the Catskill and Adirondack mountains of upstate N.Y. where, from the time she was 12 – 16-years-old, she raised dairy goats.

Lisa studied Biology at RIT in Rochester, N.Y. from 1992-1994. Later, in 1998, Lisa married and moved to the Midwest when her husband enlisted in the US Air Force. The couple moved to N.C. in 2003 when his enlistment term was done. In August 2007, Lisa began studying Forensic Biology at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC. Lisa is an avid knitter and lover of four legged mammals.

The first scene I handled myself:

Have you ever been robbed? It sucks. I’ve been robbed three times all when I was a little girl.
The last robbery I remember was in 1981. I was seven years old and wide eyed at all the people in our house. My eldest sister was eighteen at the time and distraught. I held onto her arm and cried and cried. I remember the police officers coming in, looking around, taking notes and leaving. That was it.

Fast forward to 2008. I had been on my first internship with the crime lab for about four months. Every scene the crime lab and I responded to, when I wasn’t assisting the team I had my notebook out and was scribbling notes like a woman possessed. I took notes about how they approached the scene. How they photographed the scene. Things to look for and ways to look for them. Things to make sure to do and in what order to do them in. It was the day after Thanksgiving when we got called to a breaking and entering at a residence. By now, I’d been to my fair share of breaking and entering calls so I felt pretty comfortable with the process of approaching and processing the scene.

We rolled up to the scene and as usual, my notebook was out and I was writing down my observations (from my notebook):

1. Very nice house. Well maintained front yard.
2. Nice neighborhood. Middle class.
3. Very little exterior lights/street lights. House (exterior) entirely in darkness.

We walked inside and listened as the first officer on the scene explained the situation (from my notebook):
1. Point of entry, rear kitchen window. Window smashed in.
2. Homeowners gone for a few days.
3. All games systems missing.
4. School book bag dumped.
5. No jewelry missing!
6. Tv’s and compy still there.
7. Guitars, boom box not taken.
8. 3 flash drives missing.
9. Took laptop case but not laptop.

I was still writing when I heard “Okay, this one is yours!”

*blink*

Have you ever seen a deer in headlights? Yeah… that animal is calm and has their wits about them compared to how I felt at the very moment. I stammered out a very coherent “Whaaa….?” and stared at my notebook. Remember that comfort with the process I mentioned earlier? Yeah that was shot to hell.

I took a deep breath, closed my notebook and then said “Alright. We start at the point of entry. Photograph the apparent route through the home and back to the point of exit from the home. Then we dust for prints on the point of entry, and in the areas where the items were originally as well as the point of exit.” I received a smile and a nod so I knew I was on the right track. For legal reasons, I still was not able to take the photographs so I drew my sketch of the scene along with the plan of how I wanted to process the scene and in what order. When the photographs were done, it was time to really go to work.

It was a cold night in North Carolina and to add to it, it was raining a very cold hard rain. It was the kind of rain that makes every piece of exposed flesh ache and throb. The kind of rain that no matter how much clothing you have on or in how many layers it still gets through to your bones and you feel like you will never be warm again.

The kitchen window above the sink was the point of entry to the home by our perpetrators. One clue was that the window was very small. I’m a full grown woman with very womanly hips and I’ll tell you there is no way I could have made it through that window. Even the officer with us while she was smaller than me in stature and hip width, I doubt she could have made it through that window as well. It was at about my shoulder height yet there were recycling bins and garbage bins stacked nearly to my waist in front of the window. I pointed this out and the homeowner confirmed they had not stacked them that way. The way they were stacked was very neat and orderly, like how a child would stack building blocks. Then it hit me just as hard as the rain pounding on the back of my neck… “These were a bunch of kids that did this.” I got a nod of agreement from the officer and tech on the scene. They had already made the same assumption.

My thoughts were confirmed when as I shined my flashlight against the edge of the glass I could see marks in the dust around the window frame and on the glass of small hands and small fingers. Hunched over part of the wall, cold water running down the back of my neck from the bad gutter above me, I dipped my brush in the powder and started what is now a very familiar twirling to apply the powder to the window and frame. And the prints began to appear. Yup, they were small. I wear a size 4 ½ ring on my ring finger but these were smaller than that. Yup, these were kids.

I was able to lift two prints from the exterior of the glass and then we moved inside. The way the counter and sink were situated as compared to the window it was obvious the people that climbed through that window had to have held onto the sink to get down. Unfortunately the sink offered up no usable prints. The interior of the window was the same. Nothing usable.

As we entered each room, I was quizzed how we should process the room.
Kitchen?

-Dust sink, interior window, interior and exterior of door along door knob and locks.
Living room?

-Dust the drawer handle, and interior where the thumb drives had been.
Family room?

This one was tricky. So many of the items involved were electronics and/or were made of composite plastics with a rough textured surface which is not very conducive to lifting prints. Some of the items/areas were so covered with dust from the home that it was obvious these items/areas had not been disturbed. After considering this I decided:

-Attempt to dust the textured surfaces anyway in an attempt to see if a visible print could be produced to photograph, dust the wall unit the games systems had been in as well as the game cases which had been moved.

The attempt to dust the textured surfaces yielded exactly what I thought they would… texture but nothing useful. From the game cases we were able to lift one more usable print and a few partial prints. We took sets of elimination prints of the homeowners as comparison. I could tell though, the ones we lifted would not be the homeowner’s just by the size.

Partial print

Once we were done, we packed everything up and headed out to the truck. My hands were sweating inside the nitrile gloves and yet they were freezing as well. My glasses were fogged. My ears burned and one curl had managed to free itself from my bun and was dripping water onto my cheek. Yet I stood there and stared at that house. I peeled off the gloves and put my cold fingers under my arms, shivered and thought “Could I have done more? Did I miss anything?”

The wind began to pick up and that cold wet curl whipped me in the mouth snapping me back to reality. Without a word I climbed in the truck and we drove off. As my fingers ached with cold and burned from the heat blasting out of the vents the tech with me cut the silence of the ride back to the PD. “No, you didn’t miss anything.” I hadn’t said a word. I looked up and she smiled.

As I blew on my curled fingers I couldn’t help but smile back.

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