List of assassinations by firearm

The following is a list of assassinations by firearm detailing the firearms used in the killings of politicians and key social and cultural figures.

YearLocation of attackVictimAttackerWeaponNotes1536London, EnglandRobert Pakington, Member of ParliamentUnknownWheellock pistolBelieved by some to be the first political assassination ever to be performed with a firearm.1570 Linlithgow, ScotlandJames Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of ScotlandJames Hamilton of BothwellhaughMatchlock carbine1584 Delft, NetherlandsWilliam the Silent, Prince of OrangeBalthasar GerardWheellock pistol1792 Stockholm, SwedenGustav III. King of SwedenJacob Johan AnckarströmFlintlock pistol1812 London, United KingdomPrime Minister Spencer PercevalJohn BellinghamScrew-barrel .50 caliber flint-lock pistolThe only British prime minister to be assassinated. Bellingham bought a pair of half-inch bore pistols from gunsmith W. Beckwith of Snow Hill, for four guineas.1830 São Paulo, São Paulo Province, Empire of BrazilLibero BardaróDisputedBlunderbuss1859Lake Merced, United StatesSenator David C. BroderickDavid S. Terry.58 caliber pistolKilled in a duel after his pistol failed to fire.1865 Washington, D.C., United StatesPresident Abraham LincolnJohn Wilkes Booth.44 calibre muzzleloading derringer by Henry Deringer1868 Ottawa, CanadaThomas D'Arcy McGeeMP Patrick J. Whelan.32 rimfire Smith & Wesson Army revolverSpaight, George. Ottawa Times, Trial of Patrick J. Whelan for the murder of the Hon. Thos. D'Arcy McGee , 18681880 Toronto, CanadaGeorge Brown, Premier of Canada WestGeorge Bennett (murderer)"Colt revolver"1881 Washington, D.C., United StatesPresident James A. GarfieldCharles Guiteau.44 caliber British bulldog revolver1882 Baldwyn, United StatesW. H. H. Tison, Speaker of the Mississippi House of RepresentativesJ. Edward Sanders"Double-barrel shotgun"Killed in retaliation for an alleged assault by his brother S. H. Tison.1896 Tehran, PersiaShah Naser al-Din Shah Qajar of PersiaMirza Reza KermaniRevolver1897 Madrid, SpainPrime Minister Antonio Cánovas del CastilloMichele Angiolillo 11.17mm Webley British Bulldog revolver1897 Rio de Janeiro, Federal District of Brazil, BrazilCarlos Machado de BittencourtMarcelino Bispo de MeloGarrucha1900 Monza, ItalyKing Umberto I of ItalyGaetano Bresci.32 S&W Iver-Johnson revolver1901 Buffalo, United StatesPresident William McKinleyLeon Czolgosz.32 S&W Iver-Johnson revolverCzolgosz purchased the weapon only three days prior to the assassination, for $4.50 (about $159.00 U.S. dollars in 2023 currency)) in a hardware store in Buffalo (the site of the attack). Newspaper clippings Czolgosz had collected prior noted that this particular model had been used by anarchist Gaetano Bresci to assassinate King Umberto I of Italy.1903 Belgrade, SerbiaKing Alexander I of SerbiaMihailo Ristić-DžervinacRevolver1904 Helsinki, Grand Duchy of FinlandGeneral Nikolay BobrikovEugen SchaumanFN Browning M1900Gunwriters' Handloading Subsonic Cartridges, Part 2 , P.T. Kekkonen, 1999. Accessed on 12 May 2011.1907 Sofia, BulgariaPrime Minister Dimitar PetkovAlexander PetrovPistol1908 Lisbon, PortugalKing Carlos I of PortugalManuel BuíçaWinchester Model 1907 semi-automatic carbine chambered in .351 WSLSerial number 2137, imported from Germany by Heitor Ferreira.1908 Rio Branco, Acre, BrazilJosé Plácido de CastroUnknownFirearm1909 London, United KingdomCurzon WyllieMadan Lal DhingraColt revolver1909 Harbin, ChinaResident-General Itō HirobumiAn Jung-geunFN M1900 pistol1910 Cairo, EgyptPrime Minister Boutros GhaliIbrahim Nassif al-Wardani1913 Thessaloniki, GreeceKing George I of GreeceAlexandros SchinasRevolver.1914 Sarajevo, Austria-HungaryArchduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaGavrilo PrincipFN M1910 .380 ACP pistol A letter dated April 2012 from Thomas Ilming, curator Waffen und Technik, Vienna Military Museum, who holds the actual Belgium made Browning (FN) M1910 semi-auto pistol caliber .380 ACP (9mm Kurz) s/n 19074 used by Princip. This semi-automatic pistol design allows the interchangeable barrels/receiver either 9mm Kurz or 7.65mm which probably creates some confusion as to caliber, some references state .32 ACP (7.65mm). Letter from the Museum in Vienna states emphatically that the caliber of the assassination weapon was 9mm Kurz.1918 Lisbon, PortugalPresident Sidónio PaisJosé Júlio da CostaPistol1919 Ciudad Ayala, MexicoGeneral Emiliano ZapataJesús Guajardo and subordinatesSeveral riflesGuajardo was an officer in the Mexican Army who, on the orders of General Pablo González Garza, was ordered to pretend to lead his men to defect to Zapata's forces, and then kill Zapata. The assassination was therefore carried out with Guajardo's soldiers' service rifles.1922 Berlin, GermanyForeign Minister Walther RathenauErwin KernMP 18 submachine gun1922 Warsaw, PolandPresident Gabriel NarutowiczEligiusz NiewiadomskiRevolver1923 Prague, CzechoslovakiaMinister for Finance Alois Rašín6.35mm Browning-design pistol1929 Bauru, São Paulo, BrazilMoacir de AlmeidaPistol1929 Rio de Janeiro, Federal District of Brazil, BrazilFirearm 1930 Recife, Pernambuco, BrazilJoão Pessoa Cavalcânti de AlbuquerqueJoão Duarte DantasRevolver1932 Paris, FrancePresident Paul DoumerPaul GorguloffFN Model 19101933 Miami, United StatesAnton Cermak, mayor of Chicago, during possible attempted assassination of Franklin D. RooseveltGiuseppe Zangara.32 S&W revolver by the United States Revolver CompanyOn arriving in Miami, Zangara purchased the revolver for $8 from a pawnshop, along with ten cartridges.1933 Lima, PeruPresident Luis Miguel Sánchez CerroAbelardo de MendozaBrowning semi-automatic pistol1934 Vienna, AustriaChancellor Engelbert DollfussOtto PlanettaFirearm1934 Marseille, FranceKing Alexander I of YugoslaviaVlado ChernozemskiMauser pistol1934 Leningrad, Soviet UnionSergei KirovLeonid NikolayevNagant M1895 revolver1935 Baton Rouge, United StatesSenator Huey LongCarl WeissFN Model 1910 .32 ACP semi-auto pistol1938 Poço Redondo, Sergipe, BrazilVirgulino Ferreira da Silva "Lampião"UnknownBergmann MP-35 submachine gun1938 Poço Redondo, Sergipe, BrazilMaria Gomes de Oliveira "Maria Bonita"José Panta de GodoyBergmann MP-35 submachine gun1938 Paris, FranceErnst vom RathHerschel Grynszpan6.35mm five-shot "hammerless" revolverPurchased for 210 francs and a box of 25 bullets for 35 francs.1940 London, United KingdomMichael O'DwyerUdham SinghSmith & Wesson Triple Lock revolverSingh had purchased the revolver from a soldier in a pub.The Murders of the Black Museum: 1870–1970 p. 3651942 Algiers, French AlgeriaAdmiral François DarlanFernand Bonnier de La Chapelle7.65mm French "Ruby" pistol1944 Cairo, EgyptResident Minister Lord MoyneEliyahu HakimNagant revolver1948 New Delhi, IndiaMahatma GandhiNathuram Godse.380 ACP Beretta 1934 pistol1951 East Jerusalem, West BankKing Abdullah I of JordanMustafa Shukri AshuRevolver1951 Rawalpindi, PakistanPrime Minister Liaquat Ali KhanSayyid Akbar BabrakMauser C961959 Colombo, CeylonPrime Minister S. W. R. D. BandaranaikeTalduwe Somarama Thero.45 Webley Mark VI revolver1963 Jackson, United StatesMedgar EversByron De La BeckwithM1917 Enfield1963 Dallas, United StatesPresident John F. KennedyLee Harvey OswaldItalian military rifle, 6.5mm Carcano Model 91/381964 Ceres, Goiás, BrazilAdib ShishakliNawaf GhazalehPistol1965 New York City, United StatesMalcolm XTalmadge Hayer, William 25X Bradley, and othersone sawed off shotgun, M1911A1 and another semi automatic handgun1968 Memphis, United StatesMartin Luther King Jr.James Earl RayRemington 760 Gamemaster chambered in .30-06 SpringfieldRay initially purchased an identical model in .243 Winchester, but returned it as too weak for his purposes.1968 Los Angeles, United StatesSenator Robert F. KennedySirhan SirhanEight-shot Iver Johnson .22 calibre Cadet 55-A revolverSerial number H-53725, Trial-People's Exhibit #6, misidentified in trial testimony as S/N H-186021969 Las Anod, SomaliaPresident Abdirashid Ali ShermarkeBodyguard"Automatic rifle"1975 Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaKing Faisal of Saudi ArabiaFaisal bin MusaidRevolver1978 San Francisco, United StatesGeorge Moscone and Harvey MilkDan White.38 Special S&W Chiefs Special snub-nosed revolverWhite, a former policeman, wielded the revolver he used to carry on the job.1979 Seoul, South KoreaPresident Park Chung-heeKim Jae-gyuWalther PPK .32 ACP and Smith & Wesson Model 36 .38 Special After his Walther PPK jammed, Kim retrieved a .38 revolver from his subordinate to kill Park.1980 New York City, United StatesJohn LennonMark Chapman.38 Special Charter Arms snubnosed revolverPurchased at J&S Sales in Honolulu, Hawaii for $1691981 Cairo, EgyptPresident Anwar El SadatKhalid Islambouli and co-conspiratorsEgyptian-issue AK-47 riflesOne of the guns used in the killing had "In the name of Allah the avenger" inscribed on its barrel.1983 Manila, PhilippinesNinoy AquinoDisputedSmith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolverIt was reported that the manufacturer had shipped the pistol to the Thai National Trading Co. in Bangkok on September 25, 1970.1984 Denver, United StatesAlan BergMembers of the white nationalist group The OrderIngram MAC-10 pistolThe gun was illegally converted from semi to fully automatic1984 New Delhi, IndiaPrime Minister Indira GandhiBodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh.38 Special service revolver, 9mm SAF carbine (Indian-produced Sterling submachine gun)Beant fired five shots from his service revolver, and Satwant followed with 25 shots of the carbine.1986 Stockholm, SwedenPrime Minister Olof PalmeUnknown.357 Magnum revolverThe shooter was never identified.1986 Imperatriz, Maranhão, BrazilJosimo Morais TavaresGeraldo Rodrigues da CostaFirearm1988 Xapuri, Acre, BrazilFrancisco Alves "Chico" Mendes FilhoDarci Alves da Silva20-gauge shotgun (maker and model unknown)1992 São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilGovernor Edmundo PintoUnknownFirearm1992 Annaba, AlgeriaPresident-elect Mohamed BoudiafLambarek BoumaarafiSubmachine gun1993 Boksburg, South AfricaChris HaniJanusz WaluśZ-88 9mm pistol1994 Tijuana, MexicoLuis Donaldo Colosio MurrietaMario Aburto Martínez (disputed).38 Taurus Model 85 revolverColosio was gunned down after a campaign speech rally in the Lomas Tairinas neighborhood of Tijuana. Police and government officials put Aburto as the main shooter but the latter claims others were involved but were never questioned.1994 Kigali, RwandaPrime Minister Agathe UwilingiyimanaMembers of the FARUnknownHer assassination was ordered by Colonel Théoneste Bagosora.1995 Corpus Christi, Texas, United StatesSelena Quintanilla-PérezYolanda Saldívar.38 Taurus Model 85 revolver1995 Tel Aviv, IsraelPrime Minister Yitzhak RabinYigal AmirBeretta 84F semi-automatic pistol1996 Maceió, Alagoas, BrazilPaulo César FariasUnknownRossi model 874 .38 Special revolver1996 Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesTupac ShakurUnknown.40 caliber Glock 22 pistol1998 Cookeville, Tennessee, United StatesTommy BurksByron Looper9mm pistol1999 Yerevan, ArmeniaPrime Minister Vazgen SargsyanNairi Hunanyan and co-conspiratorsKalashnikov AK-47 rifle2000 Athens, GreeceBrigadier Stephen SaundersMembers of the Marxist group 17 November.45 Colt M1911 pistol2000 Decatur, Georgia, United StatesDerwin BrownMelvin WalkerIntratec TEC-9His assassination was ordered by Sidney Dorsey2001 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of CongoPresident Laurent-Désiré KabilaRashidi MizeleRevolver2001 Campinas, São Paulo, BrazilAntonio da Costa SantosUnknownFirearm2001 Governador Dix-Sept Rosado, Rio Grande do Norte, BrazilAguinaldo Pereira da SilvaDisputedAR-15-style rifle2002 Juquitiba, São Paulo, BrazilCelso DanielUnknownFirearm2002 Hilversum, NetherlandsPim FortuynVolkert van der GraafStar Firestar semi-automatic pistol2003 Belgrade, Serbia and MontenegroPrime Minister Zoran ĐinđićZvezdan JovanovićHeckler & Koch G3 rifleFired from a window 180m away.UNMIK DPI Foreign Media Monitoring , 26 March 20032004 Amsterdam, NetherlandsTheo van GoghMohammed BouyeriHS2000 semi-automatic pistol2004 Columbus, Ohio, Un