Gunshot wounds: visual and analytical procedures.

Visual examination of clothing and tissue from gunshot wounds provides information pertaining to the range of discharge of a firearm. Identification of powder grains or soot is evidence of close range discharge by a handgun. Analyses of tissue by EDX and FAAS technics are shown to supply corroborating data to visual examination in estimation of range. These methods are of particular value in differentiating contact and distant wounds when decomposed bodies are examined and when multiple layers of clothing are present.