# The Heart Attack Gun **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422 "2013-05-03T15:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/21 "2013-05-05T04:11:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I wasn’t defending anyone or any statement. I was attempting to provide information on what the current law is regarding the CIA and assassination. Oh, I thought you were trying to say something else. Sorry, carry on!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/22 "2013-05-05T12:12:34Z")
I once read a book which I believe was called “With Extreme Prejudice”, which mentioned a completely different, Soviet, heart-attack gun. Can’t have a heart-attack-gun gap, I suppose. That used compressed air to fire glass pellets designed to break in mid-air and release a toxic gas (I want to say it was prussic acid vapour) which induced heart attacks in the subject. The assassins were required to breath through a special rag to avoid killing themselves at the same time, and it was eventually discovered because it was too powerful and the tiny shards of glass lacerated the face of one of their victims. > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The first episode of Mythbusters “busted” the idea of ice bullets, as they are too brittle. It was repeated in episode 14, and busted again. Could always use Pykrete. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/23 "2013-05-05T17:49:04Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > …Could always use Pykrete. Adding stuff that isn’t water ice to an ice bullet would eliminate the untraceable value you’re looking for. I also don’t think it would help any, but it would be a Mythbustable test. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/24 "2013-05-05T20:05:18Z")
Wouldn’t it be less suspicious to use a form of [Jet injector](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_injector) and introduce an effective amount of Potassium Chloride that would cause cardiac arrest? AFAIK KCI wouldn’t be detected during an autopsy. Even if there were no other signs of heart disease (clogged arteries, etc) the medical examiner might conclude acute atrial fibrillation. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/25 "2013-05-05T20:48:54Z")
Sorta related…the 1930’s Mob killer Abe “Kid Twist” Reles killed people with an ice pick (he would shove an ice pick into the victim’s ear-it would pierce the brain and cause fatal cerebral bleeding). From what I read, most medical examiners would miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/26 "2013-05-05T21:14:57Z")
Continuing the sort-of hijacks, I’ve always wondered if it’d be possible to carve a bullet from human bone and whether that’s something that’d be easily missed during an autopsy. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/27 "2013-05-05T21:22:23Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > Continuing the sort-of hijacks, I’ve always wondered if it’d be possible to carve a bullet from human bone and whether that’s something that’d be easily missed during an autopsy. It would be easily missed if another bone was hit and fractured. I don’t know how well a bullet made from bone would do that, but it’s unlikely anyone is checking each bone fragment to make sure it came from the victim. But all that does is leave the bullet undiscovered, which happens in a lot of shootings, the cause of death would still be obvious. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/28 "2013-05-05T22:57:09Z")
How about shadowing the victim until he/she goes into a restaurant. Get the same type of meat they order and when they go into the restroom grab them and shove it down their throat making it look like they choked to death. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422/29 "2013-05-06T01:11:53Z")
Autopsies are often done on heart attack victims, especially if there wasn’t any medical history suggesting the person was at risk. If the person also was on a political hit list, the odds of an autopsy would increase. If the autopsy does not disclose characteristic findings of atherosclerotic heart disease (but does turn up shellfish toxin assuming someone looks for it), there’d be some 'splainin to do. Also, note the introduction to the list of conspiracies: _“Conspiracy theorists believe in a lot of crackpot ideas and deserve their reputation as an amusing distraction, but once in awhile, they get one right”_ Actually, I don’t see a single item on that list that was revealed by conspiracy theorists as we have come to know and love :dubious: them. For instance, I haven’t heard of the “ice gun” being exposed by Internet conspiracy discussion groups or books written by conspiracy groupies. I’m still waiting for a counterpart to 9/11, the Kennedy assassination or other major “controversy”. where conspiracy theory nuts actually revealed anything noteworthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-heart-attack-gun/657422.md?page=1)