77 Chapter Eleven The Pen Is Mightier The most common modification of available hardware into firearm is that of the pengun. While a pengun is inaccurate, lacks muzzle velocity, cannot be reloaded quickly, and is often functionally unreliable, it can kill! And that effect is forever. Because of cinematic and literary spy fiction, the pengun enjoys an armchair popularity. A pen or pencil is among the most common of common-folk, commonplace items. A pen's size, weight, and shape make it ideal for disguising a firearm of similar dimensions that would always be close at hand and ready for quick action. Due to their small size, most penguns are .22 or .25 designs. Some of the commercial designs also come in .380 and 9mm. A few street modifications have shown up in .32 and .38, yet I saw a felt-tip-marker-sized model in Dade County, Florida, that was built around a.45 ACP round. It was not pleasant to fire. The firearms officer told me that one of his colleagues in nearby Miami had confiscated a similar-sized design that fired a .410 shotshell. Sad experience with penguns has plagued their history. The wartime production item, known as the Stinger T2, probably caused more casualties to friendlies than to