Lupara
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Short description|Italian word for a type of shotgun}}
{{For|the place|Lupara, Molise}}{{italic}}
{{lang|it|Lupara}} ({{IPA|it|luˈpaːra}}) is an Italian word used to refer to a sawed-off shotgun of the break-action type. It is traditionally associated with the Sicilian Mafia for their use of it in vendettas, defense—such as its use against Benito Mussolini's army when he decided to break up the Sicilian mafioso network—and hunting.{{cite book |last=Chalker |first=Dennis |authorlink=Dennis Chalker |title=One Perfect Op : an Insider's Account of the Navy Seal Special Warfare Teams |author2=Dockery |year=2002 |publisher=Morrow |location=New York |isbn=0-671-02465-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/realteam00rich/page/251 251] |url=https://archive.org/details/realteam00rich/page/251 }}
The shortened barrel(s) of a {{lang|it|lupara}} lend themselves to easier handling in wooded areas, or to easier concealment and indoor deployment in urban areas. The absence of a choke and the shortened barrel contribute to a wider spread of shot than that of a choked full-length gun.
Terminology
The word {{lang|it|lupara}} means literally "for the wolf", reflecting its traditional use in wolf hunting. The word achieved wider recognition through Mario Puzo's bestselling novel The Godfather in which the {{lang|it|lupara}} is used extensively by the mafia in Sicily, including Michael Corleone's bodyguards in Sicily, Calo and Fabrizio.{{cite book |last=Puzo |first=Mario |authorlink=Mario Puzo| title=The Godfather |year= 2002|publisher= NAL|location=New York |isbn=978-0-451-20576-6 |pages=192, 203, 329, 335, 337, 349}}
{{lang|it|Lupara}} can indicate also the type of ammunition fired by this gun, usually #3 or #4 buck. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, in his novel The Leopard (Il Gattopardo), writes: "... they found him dead ... with twelve bullets in his back" ({{lang|it|... lo hanno trovato morto ... con dodici lupare nella schiena}}). (Lupare is the plural of {{lang|it|lupara}}, so the phrase means "twelve pellets from a {{lang|it|lupara}}".)
From the word {{lang|it|lupara}} comes the Italian expression {{lang|it|lupara bianca}} (white {{lang|it|lupara}}), a term especially used by journalists to refer to a mafia-style slaying in which the victim's body is deliberately destroyed or hidden.{{cite web|url=http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/lupara/| title=Lupara|work=Vocabolario Treccani}}
Infamous usage
An early example of criminal use of the weapon in the United States was the assassination of the New Orleans chief of police, David Hennessy, in October 1890.{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Tom|title=The Crescent City Murders|year=2007|publisher=The Lyons Press|isbn=978-1-59228-901-1|url=https://archive.org/details/crescentcitylync00toms}} After Chief Hennessy was shot in an ambush, four luparas were found at the murder scene.Reppetto, Thomas (2004). American Mafia.Henry Holt and Company LLC. {{ISBN|0-8050-7210-1}}, pg. 1 The murder punctuated a rivalry between gangs of Sicilian fruit company stevedores whose contracts did not fall under the auspices of the local longshoreman's union. A pile of sawn-off shotguns was displayed after the murder, including a homemade gun with a folding iron stock, and another with a hook on its stock to brace against the arm when firing one-armed. Anti-Italian provocation, following the failed prosecution of a group of suspected men, resulted in a mob assault on the New Orleans Parish Prison and the subsequent lynching of eleven Italian prisoners.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D03E1D81239E033A25756C1A9659C94609ED7CF Chief Hennessy avenged], The New York Times, 15 March 1891[http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/orleans/newspapers/00000077.txt Anti-Italian Mood Led to 1891 Lynchings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219003506/http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/orleans/newspapers/00000077.txt |date=19 February 2012 }}, Times Picayune Newspaper, 14 March 1991
References
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