Firearms have changed the course of human history, or more specifically, the people who used them and whom they killed.
The death of influential figures, including leaders of mass organizations, politicians, celebrities, and presidents, profoundly impacted society. Assassinations of high-profile individuals in any nation would trigger something called “flashbulb memory” in citizens.
For many generations to come, many will remember the victims and all the good deeds they had done (or could have done); the perpetrators of the crime go down in history books as well.
Almost every detail of the assassination became subject to scrutiny. There would be inquiries and investigations on how the assassination took place, to begin with, why it happened, who were involved, and what murder weapons were used.
Throughout history, there have been plenty of infamous murder weapons used in the assassinations of influential individuals. Some of those weapons are listed below.
10 Charter Arms .38
Mark David Chapman, the man who killed The Beatles legend John Lennon, is still serving time in a maximum-security prison at Wende Correctional Facility. Chapman was denied parole for the 11th time in August 2020.
According to a transcript of his parole hearing, he claimed to have shot Lennon for “glory” and because he was angry and jealous of Lennon’s seemingly perfect lifestyle.
Lennon died on December 8, 1980, after Chapman had shot him twice in the back and twice in the shoulder. The murder weapon used in the assassination was a Charter Arms .38-caliber handgun.
9 .40 S&W Glock 22
Tupac Shakur was gunned down in the Las Vegas strip on September 13, 1996. It took the authorities ten years to find the murder weapon, and even that was by mere chance. One individual found a .40 S&W Glock 22 in his backyard in 1998 and reported it to the police.
Fast forward to 2006, Deputy Timothy M. Brennan was sifting through records, and he recognized the address where the gun had been found as home to the girlfriend of a prominent Crip member.
The deputy ordered ballistic testing, and the results were a match for the firearm used to kill Tupac.