Doctors confirmed the six victims in Tuesday’s FedEx shootings were injured by a shotgun.
The shotgun gets its name from the fact that it usually fires a single shell, which contains shot. Shot are metal pellets that come in different sizes.
To those unfamiliar with firearms, shotguns may get confused with the types of high-caliber “long guns” talked about in the news.
Those weapons, including rifles, can usually fire multiple rounds of ammunition in quick succession and can accommodate magazines that store dozens of bullets.
Shotguns are also considered long guns. In the United States, they are reliable and popular weapons that have many uses — hunting, law enforcement, home defense and military applications.
Shotguns are designed to be fired from the shoulder at close range, and they can fire a single projectile (slug) or multiple projectiles (shot) through a smooth barrel.
Shotguns come in many shapes, sizes and types. Popular models include pump-action (or slide-action), semi-automatic, single-shot, double-barreled side-by-side, double-barreled over/under, and even bolt action.
Source: About.com Hunting / Shooting
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