Gunshot victim still retaining a loose hold of the weapon

Many well documented reviews of gunshot suicides show that the weapon is found to be still in the grasp of the victim. This was defined in Garavaglia’s series of 498 deaths as having a finger on the trigger or loosely gripping the barrel or grip of the gun. Given this scientific background of the not uncommon finding of a gun being found loosely gripped in the hand or touching the trigger, we then note the progression to the use of the term “cadaveric spasm” in gunshot deaths.