Burn injury occurs only in near-contact wounds

We have presented the scientific reason and experts' opinion in monographs and published papers to show that bullets do not burn skin. Yet many people are under the impression that burn injury is common in gunshot wounds, caused by very hot bullets cauterizing tissues. The fact is that, scorching or burning occurs only in contact wound or near-contact wounds, caused by the flame or hot air from the muzzle. In the following we present quotes from [DM] and [A], and refer the readers to [DM, chap. 4] for more information.

• In contact wounds and near contact wounds, the skin is seared by the hot gases of combustion, and blackened by the soot. See [DM, pp. 65-71].

• In intermediate-range gunshot wounds, the muzzle was held sufficiently close to the target body, so that the powder grains expelled from the muzzle produce ``powder tattooing'' of the skin. Powder tattoo marks are not ``powder burns'', but rather are punctuated abrasions. See[DM, pp. 71-72]

• The maximum range of powder tattooing from a .38-special revolver with 4-inch barrel is 105 cm. The maximum range of powder tattooing from a .22 revolver with 4-inch barrel is 45 cm. See [DM, pp. 138-139].

• The term ``powder burns'' does not have a precise meaning. Some people use ``powder burns'' to signify powder tattooing. Some others use it to signify searing and blackening of the skin due to the hot gas that occur from combustion of the propellant. See [DM, p. 73].

• ``On the basis of the author's experience, the maximum distance out to which powder soot deposition occurs for most handguns is 20 to 30 cm.'' See [DM, p. 75]

• ``The products of the muzzle blast are responsible for the zone of charring and stippling (``soiling''), popularly miscalled ``powder burns'' ...'' See [A, p. 393].

• ``Most entrance wounds are surrounded by a reddish or reddish-brown zone of abraded skin, called the abrasion ring. This is a rim of flattened, abraded epidermis, surrounding the entrance track. ... The abrasion ring occurs when the bullet abrades, or ``rubs raw'', the edge of the hole as it indents and pierces the skin.'' See [DM, pp. 83-84].

• The abrasion ring is not due to the bullet's rotational movement as it goes through the skin,⁵² nor is it due to the bullet burning the skin. See [DM, p. 84].

The lead bullet that hit Chen in the March 19 incident was, according to the CIB, not fired from close distance because no powder residue was detected on Chen's clothing. See page 46 of Lee Report; see also China Times, March 23, page A7, and Chinatimes Expresss, March 23, page 4. So we can be sure that there were no scorching by hot gas from the muzzle, and no powder tattooing either.