<P> At almost the same time, in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, on 13 July 1881, George E. Goodfellow performed the first laparotomy to treat an abdominal gunshot wound . Goodfellow pioneered the use of sterile techniques in treating gunshot wounds, washing the person's wound and his hands with lye soap or whisky . He became America's leading authority on gunshot wounds and is credited as the United States' first civilian trauma surgeon . </P> <P> Wilhelm Röntgen's discovery of X-rays in 1895 led to the use of radiographs to locate bullets in wounded soldiers . </P> <P> Survival rates for gunshot wounds improved among US military personnel during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, due in part to helicopter evacuation, along with improvements in resuscitation and battlefield medicine . Similar improvements were seen in US trauma practices during the Iraq War . Some military trauma care practices are disseminated by citizen soldiers who return to civilian practice . One such practice is to transfer major trauma cases to an operating theater as soon as possible, to stop internal bleeding . Within the United States, the survival rate for gunshot wounds has increased, leading to apparent declines in the gun death rate in states that have stable rates of gunshot hospitalizations . </P> <P> Research into gunshot wounds is hampered by lack of funding . Federal - funded research into firearm injury, epidemiology, violence, and prevention is minimal . Pressure from the National Rifle Association, the gun lobby, and some gun owners, expressing concerns regarding increased government controls on freedom and guns, is highly effective in preventing related research . </P>

A gunshot wound is considered which mechanism of death