A large number of youths in Vietnam’s mountainous and rural areas have built lethal alcohol air shotguns from daily products which can be used to brutally hunt wild birds and animals, and can even kill people.

In a tranquil forest in Bao Lam District’s B’La Commune in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, a loud boom was heard in the distance.

Most people would have thought the noise was produced by a 12kg air shotgun.

After the shot, Hoang, the shooter, picked up a dead bird the size of his palm. The shot was so precise and powerful that the bird’s chest was torn wide open.

“The gun’s precision isn’t very good; if it were better, the bird would have its brain blown out,” Hoang boasted.

The $5 gun 

Hoang’s gun looks similar to a rifle, but its two cartridge holders are in the butt, which contains alcohol gas. Its trigger is an electric spark.    

Bullets, which are bearing balls from a bike, are applied directly from the barrel.   

In a pine forest in B’La Commune, Quan, another member of the community, bought a few pipe segments of different sizes from a store nearby. He also bought a cheap lighter, which he disassembled and took the spark from.

Quan said that the materials to build three guns, which also include alcohol, bearing balls and glue, costs a mere VND300,000.

After less than 30 minutes, three guns were ready for a wildlife massacre.

Quan said that the guns are so easy to assemble, even kids can make them.

He revealed that he had switched from a 12kg air shotgun to alcohol air guns, which are easy to build and escape the attention of police.

Quan, who understands the basics of weaponry quite well, said he is planning to build a three “cartridge” (alcohol gas bottle) weapon, which is twice as powerful and lethal as a two-“cartridge” one.

His new “invention” will also include an automatic alcohol gas pump.

Quan, Son and other group members roamed the forest, indiscriminately shooting down birds and even hares and wild fowl.

Most youngsters in other communes in Bao Lam District such as Loc Bac and Loc Bao make or own at least one such gun for hunting and self defense.

As lethal, injurious as military guns

To try out his new gun, Son stood some 15m from an old pine tree in front of Hoang’s house, aiming at a palm-size lump on the tree before pulling the trigger.

The shot sent a bearing ball into the lump and cut it some 4cm deep.

When Hoang tried, he hammered a 5cm-thick piece of wood and pulled the trigger at a distance of 20m.

His shot penetrated the wood piece and the bark, causing resin to ooze out.

They then poured the contents of two bottles of alcohol into a handheld watering can.

The amount of alcohol is enough for 100 shots from each gun.

A worrying fact is that despite its simplicity, the alcohol air shotgun is highly lethal and causes great damage, particularly if it is used to injure or kill people.

“Last week, a group of teenagers went to the forest with the guns to resolve a conflict. Luckily their families found out and made them come home. If they hadn’t, something awful might have happened,” Son recounted after killing three birds with just one shot.

Even seasoned hunters can have accidents with alcohol air shotguns.

Quan showed a deep scar on his calf from a night hunt a year ago, when he was mistakenly shot by another group of hunters using alcohol guns.

He was lucky to keep his leg after undergoing surgery.

Rampancy, legal loophole

According to Hoang Van Tuong, from Bao Lam District Police, alcohol gas shotguns were first made in Ham Thuan Bac District in central Vietnam’s Binh Thuan Province and soon became wildly popular. 

The guns are now widely available in all of Lam Dong’s remote districts.

Since early 2014, the Bao Lam District’s police have confiscated five alcohol gas shotguns and 86 other types of homemade guns.

Bao Loc District’s police have also seized five alcohol guns. A weaponry expert from the Ministry of Public Security said that alcohol guns are also found in Mekong Delta provinces in the south.

The guns are capable of shots as powerful as current 12kg-air guns and sport guns. However, the guns pose more hazards as they are homemade and accidents can easily occur if the sparks light incorrectly.

The guns’ mechanism is somewhat similar to motorbikes’ engines. Alcohol gas is burned within a short time, releasing a compression pressure, which multiples by many times when it moves from the “cartridge” to the barrel.

The pressure then forms an incredibly powerful propulsive force, which sends the “bullet” out with the strength and speed of a rifle bullet.

Despite the guns’ high lethality, Tuong noted that it is quite difficult to penalize users.

As the guns are made from water pipes and other components that are not considered contraband such as bike bearing balls and medical alcohol, makers and users can easily escape the accusation of weapon use if they disassemble the gun parts, he explained.

Meanwhile, Dr. Phan Anh Tuan of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Law pointed out that according to Article 233 of the Penal Code, making and using alcohol gas shotguns can be penalized as illegally making, keeping, transporting, using and trading in simple weapons.

Perpetrators can be fined from VND5-50 million (up to $ 2,358), kept under constant surveillance or be banned from residence in a locality for one to five years.

Repeated offenders who have been fined for or convicted of this crime face imprisonment from three months to two years.

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