Guns Used in Famous Assassinations
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This is a list of firearms used in famous assassinations. Attempted assassinations are included as well, such as the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan as an example.
Year | Location | Victim | Attacker | Weapon | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1570 | Scotland | James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regend of Scotland | James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh | Matchlock carbine | First recorded use of a firearm in an assassination. |
1584 | Netherlands | William the Silent, Prince of Orange | Balthasar Gerard | Wheellock pistol | Second ever recorded assassination using a firearm, and the first to ever use a handgun. |
1812 | United Kingdom | Prime Minister Spencer Perceval | John Bellingham | Screw-barrel .50 caliber flintlock pistol | Only British Prime Minister to be assassinated. Bellingham bought a pair of half-inch bore pistols from gunsmith W. Beckwith of Snow Hill, for four Guineas. |
1865 | United States | President Abraham Lincoln | John Wilkes Booth | .44 caliber muzzleloading derringer by Henry Deringer | |
1868 | Canada | Thomas D'Arcy McGee | MP Patrick J. Whelan | .32 rimfire Smith & Wesson Army revolver | |
1880 | Canada | George Brown, Premier of Canada West | George Bennett | "Colt revolver" | |
1881 | United States | President James A. Garfield | Charles Guiteau | .44 caliber British Bulldog Revolver | |
1900 | Italy | King Umberto I of Italy | Gaetano Bresci | .32 S&W Iver-Johnson revolver | |
1901 | United States | President William McKinley | Leon Czolgosz | .32 S&W Iver-Johnson revolver | Czolgosz bought the revolver three days before the assassination for $4.50 in a hardware store in Buffalo, where the attack would later occur. Newspaper clippings he had collected prior noted that this specific revolver model was previously used by Gaetano Bresci to assassinate King Umberto I of Italy. |
1904 | Finland | General Nikolay Bobrikov | Eugen Schauman | FN Browning M1900 | Example |
1908 | Portugal | King Carlos I of Portugal | Manuel Buíça | Winchester Model 1907 semi-auto carbine chambered in .351 WSL | Serial number was 2137. Gun imported from Germany by Heitor Ferreira |
1909 | Korea | Resident-General Itō Hirobumi | An Jung-geun | FN Browning M1900 | |
1914 | Austria-Hungary | Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria | Gavrilo Princip | FN Model 1910 chambered in .380 ACP | A letter dated April 2012 from Thomas Ilming, curator Waffen und Technik, Vienna Military Museum, who holds the actual Belgium made Browning (FN) M1910 semi-auto pistol caliber .380 acp (9mm Kurz) s/n 19074 used by Princip. This semi-automatic pistol design allows the interchangeable barrels/receiver either 9mm Kurz or 7.65mm which probably creates some confusion as to caliber, some references state .32 ACP (7.65 mm). Letter from the Museum in Vienna states emphatically that the caliber of the assassination weapon was 9mm Kurz. |
1932 | France | President Paul Doumer | Paul Gorguloff | FN Model 1910 | |
1933 | United States | Anton Cermak, mayor of Chicago during possible attempted assassination of Franklin D. Roosevelt | Giuseppe Zangara | .32 S&W revolver by the United States Revolver Company | Upon arriving in Miami, Zangara bought the revolver for $8 from a pawn shop, as well as 10 cartridges. |
1933 | Peru | President Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro | Abelardo de Mendoza | Browning semi-auto pistol | |
1934 | France | King Alexander I of Yugoslavia | Vlado Chernozemski | Mauser C96 pistol | |
1935 | United States | Senator Huey Long | Carl Weiss | FN Model 1910 semi-auto pistol chambered in .32 ACP | |
1938 | France | Ernst vom Rath | Herschel Grynszpan | 6.35mm five-shot "hammerless" revolver | Bought for 210 francs and a box of 25 cartridges for 35 francs. |
1942 | France | Admiral François Darlan | Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle | Ruby Pistol chambered in .32 ACP (7.65mm) | |
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