Street Guns
PENGUNS, ZIPGUNS, & SIMILAR DEVICES
Penguns are just what they sound like: guns designed to look like a pen. Some actually do resemble a pen at first glance, but most look more like a marker- sized metal tube with a pocket- clip attached. Their primary strength is concealability. There are over a dozen types of pengun. The majority fire a single .22 LR cartridge. Most are either unsafe or require several steps to arm. I have seen one that folds and clicks into a pistol-like configuration prior to use They are more suited for assassination and clandestine service than self defense.
A similar weapon, the “Stinger,” is similarly flawed. It comes in several versions, but is typically a short cylindrical device with a hole in one end to serve as a muzzle. It usually fires a .22 LR cartridge, and often has a rounded end for (ahem) maximum concealment possibilities. An oversized version, looking much like a tube sticking out of a bicycle handgrip, fires a .410 shotshell.
Penguns and Stingers are seldom seen anymore due to strict federal laws concerning “disguised firearms.” At one time “Penguin,” and other companies, offered a metal pengun device that fired teargas cartridges that screwed into one end. A bored-out bolt with identical threads could be used to fire a .25 ACP round, but I don’t know why anyone would want to bother as the resulting weapon would be pathetically weak, highly illegal, and only accurate enough for a contact shot. Still available are “pen-flare” devices, usually made of plastic, which fire a tiny luminous signal flare. A pen-flare will definitely startle someone and can burn deep into soft tissue, but is inaccurate and generally ineffective for inflicting serious injury.
Illegal homemade “zip-guns” are often designed in a similar fashion. They typically consist of a short tube (cut-down rifle barrel, steel pipe, or even the aluminum tubing from a radio antennae) with a firing mechanism at one end. These crude mechanisms typically consist of a plunger that is either slapped with the palm of the hand or pulled back and released (snapping back by means of a coil spring or elastic band). Sometimes they are securely taped to a piece of wood carved into a pistol grip shape. Zip guns constructed by prisoners typically consist of a metal tube, a .22 LR cartridge, and a rock. Needless to say, crudely constructed firearms made from inferior materials are often more dangerous to the user than the target, due to their tendency to explode.
The “blast rod” (for want of a better name) is similar to the “trombone-style” shotguns fabricated by guerrilla fighters. This crude device is made of two pipes that slide together, one forming the barrel and the other having a fixed firing-pin at the base the weapon is fired by slamming the two pieces together. The blast rod is basically a drastically shortened (yawara to baton-sized) trombone shotgun that is typically held in one hand and jabbed forcefully into the target, firing upon impact. The two pieces can be held together with a rudimentary gasket. “Knuckle guns” have been fabricated from small pipe fittings and work on a similar principal. The muzzle extends between the fingers of one’s closed fist, and the weapon fires (typically a .22 LR or .32 ACP cartridge) upon impact.
Similar to both the Stinger and the zip-gun are the flat multi-barreled firearms sometimes offered for sale in Mexican border towns. These devices can fire several .22 magnum rounds individually or nearly simultaneously (by rippling the actuator buttons) by means of multiple coil-spring firing mechanisms. The device appears to be a flat metal box with a row of holes drilled in one end corresponding to the same number of guide-slots and actuator buttons along one side. It is typically carried decocked, as there is no safety mechanism and the device could easily be fired inadvertently while in one’s pocket. The device typically swings open on a hinge to reload. Another version of this device utilizes a pair (or trio) of stubby barrels which must be unscrewed from the receiver to reload. These devices have been manufactured overseas as well as domestically, but are exclusively a black market item. These designs have also been incorporated into belt buckles, which can fire rounds sideways from the wearer (although this variation is rare).
Distantly related to the pengun is the “blowpen” marketed by ASP. This device, sold primarily as a novelty item, appears to be a thick fountain pen with a tube running through its length, from which can be fired miniature blowgun darts. Accuracy and velocity are limited, which restricts one to point blank range. The tiny darts are incapable of causing injury unless fired directly into the eye; however, if the darts were to be treated with a potent neurotoxin, the blowpen toy could be transformed into a passable (though improbable) assassination device. A similar device could be fabricated from any short length of narrow tubing, including a drinking straw. One obscure weapon is the “poisoned dart gun pen,” which was made in several versions (typically using a compressed gas cartridge for propulsion) and issued to Soviet intelligence officers. Very few are in the hands of collectors, and no attempt has been made to market reproductions commercially.
Pengun-like firing mechanisms have been disguised within: lipstick tubes, pagers, Zippo lighters, belt buckles, tire pressure gauges, penlights, motorcycle handgrips, large bolts, tobacco pipes, cameras, and canes. “Trombone-style” firing devices have been concealed within or disguised as: lug wrenches, socket wrenches, motorcycle shock absorbers, and highway flares. These weapons are typically individual prototypes crudely fashioned at a garage workbench, although the rare exception may exist. Although most of these weapons have the stated purpose of “self-defense,” they are utterly worthless in this capacity. Their primary function is to frustrate cursory searches for weapons and contraband at official checkpoints. They are best suited for intelligence officers, terrorists, and assassins (although they are popular with gang members and professional criminals as well). They are prohibited nearly everywhere.
BANG STICK
The bang stick (sometimes referred to as a “shark stick”) is a device marketed to scuba divers to defend against shark attack. There are several designs marketed under different names. Some use a CO2 cartridge to propel a piston-like spearhead out the tip, but the ones we’ll discuss here consist of a cylinder at the end of a rod which fires a cartridge (5.56 mm or 12 gauge shotshell) into a shark’s body upon impact.
The rods come in varying lengths, from spear-sized to just over a foot in length. The shorter ones could be concealed under a heavy coat quite easily, and they have a safety mechanism as well. These well-designed tools are reliable and safe to use, unlike the trombone-style shotguns referred to above. They are legal to purchase and own, provided they are used for their intended purpose (it would be highly illegal to have a loaded bang stick concealed on one’s person while walking downtown, however). After firing its single round, the bang stick is substantial enough to use as a bludgeon. Homemade versions of this weapon have occasionally been encountered.
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