() is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

word used to refer to a sawed-off shotgun of the

break-action Break action is a type of firearm action in which the barrel(s) are hinged much like a door and rotate perpendicularly to the bore axis to expose the breech and allow loading and unloading of cartridges. A separate operation may be required for ...

type. It is traditionally associated with the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

for their use of it in vendettas, defense—such as its use against

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

's army when he decided to break up the Sicilian mafioso network—and

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

. The shortened barrel(s) of a 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 means literally "for the wolf", reflecting its traditional use in

wolf hunting Wolf hunting is the practice of hunting Wolf (disambiguation), wolves. Wolves are mainly hunted for sport, for their skins, to protect livestock and, in some rare cases, to protect humans. Wolves have been actively hunted since 8,000 to 10,000&n ...

. The word achieved wider recognition through

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' (1969), which h ...

's bestselling novel ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

'' in which the is used extensively by the mafia in Sicily, including

Michael Corleone Michael Corleone is a fictional character and the protagonist of Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather''. In the The Godfather (film series), three ''Godfather'' films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Michael was portr ...

's bodyguards in Sicily, Calo and Fabrizio. 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" (). (''Lupare'' is the plural of , so the phrase means "twelve pellets from a ".) From the word comes the Italian expression (white ), a term especially used by journalists to refer to a mafia-style slaying in which the victim's body is deliberately destroyed or hidden.

Infamous usage

An early example of criminal use of the weapon in the United States was the assassination of the

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

chief of police A chief of police (COP) is the title given to an appointed official or an elected one in the command hierarchy, chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. A chief of police may also be known as a police chief or somet ...

, David Hennessy, in October 1890. After Chief Hennessy was shot in an ambush, four luparas were found at the murder scene. The murder punctuated a rivalry between gangs of Sicilian fruit company

stevedore A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockwork ...

s 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.Anti-Italian Mood Led to 1891 Lynchings
, Times Picayune Newspaper, 14 March 1991

References

External links

*{{Wiktionary-inline Organized crime terminology History of the Sicilian Mafia Double-barreled shotguns of Italy Multiple-barrel firearms Firearm terminology