Editing Assassination (section)

==Techniques==
===Modern methods===
With the advent of effective ranged weaponry and later [[firearms]], the position of an assassination target was more precarious. Bodyguards were no longer enough to deter determined killers, who no longer needed to engage directly or even to subvert the guard to kill the leader in question. Moreover, the engagement of targets at greater distances dramatically increased the chances for assassins to survive since they could quickly flee the scene. The first heads of government to be assassinated with a firearm were [[James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray]], the regent of Scotland, in 1570, and [[William the Silent]], the Prince of Orange of the Netherlands, in 1584. [[Gunpowder]] and other explosives also allowed the use of bombs or even greater concentrations of explosives for deeds requiring a larger touch.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Explosives, especially the [[car bomb]], become far more common in modern history, with [[grenades]] and remote-triggered land mines also used, especially in the Middle East and the Balkans; the initial attempt on [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Franz Ferdinand]]'s life was with a grenade. With heavy weapons, the [[rocket-propelled grenade]] (RPG) has become a useful tool given the popularity of armored cars (discussed below), and Israeli forces have pioneered the use of aircraft-mounted missiles,<ref>''[http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/17/mideast.violence/index.html Hamas leader killed in Israeli airstrike]'' – [[CNN]], Saturday April 17, 2004</ref> as well as the innovative use of explosive devices.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

[[File:Mannlicher-Carcano rifle owned by Lee Harvey Oswald.jpg|thumb|[[John F. Kennedy assassination rifle|Carcano Model 38]] of [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], the assassin of President [[John F. Kennedy]]]]
[[File:Booth deringer.jpg|thumb|[[Derringer]] of [[John Wilkes Booth]], the assassin of President [[Abraham Lincoln]]]]
A [[sniper]] with a precision rifle is often used in fictional assassinations; however, certain pragmatic difficulties attend long-range shooting, including finding a hidden shooting position with a clear line of sight, detailed advance knowledge of the intended victim's travel plans, the ability to identify the target at long range, and the ability to score a first-round lethal hit at long range, which is usually measured in hundreds of meters. A dedicated [[sniper rifle]] is also expensive, often costing thousands of dollars because of the high level of precision machining and handfinishing required to achieve extreme accuracy.<ref name="Austria">''[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1542559/Iraqi-insurgents-using-Austrian-rifles-from-Iran.html Iraqi insurgents using Austrian rifles from Iran]'' – [[The Daily Telegraph]], Tuesday February 13, 2007</ref>

Despite their comparative disadvantages, handguns are more easily concealable and so are much more commonly used than rifles. Of the 74 principal incidents evaluated in a major study about assassination attempts in the US in the second half of the 20th century, 51% were undertaken by a handgun, 30% with a rifle or shotgun, 15% used knives, and 8% explosives (the use of multiple weapons/methods was reported in 16% of all cases).<ref name="SS"/>

In the case of state-sponsored assassination, poisoning can be more easily denied. [[Georgi Markov]], a dissident from [[Bulgaria]], was assassinated by [[ricin]] poisoning. A tiny pellet containing the poison was injected into his leg through a specially designed [[Bulgarian umbrella|umbrella]]. Widespread allegations involving the Bulgarian government and the [[KGB]] have not led to any legal results. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union, it was learned that the KGB had developed an umbrella that could inject ricin pellets into a victim, and two former KGB agents who defected stated that the agency assisted in the murder.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/01/070117_markov.shtml The case of the poisoned umbrella]. [[BBC]] World Service, 2007.</ref> The [[CIA]] made several [[assassination attempts on Fidel Castro|attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro]]; many of the schemes involving poisoning his cigars. In the late 1950s, the KGB assassin [[Bohdan Stashynsky]] killed Ukrainian nationalist leaders [[Lev Rebet]] and [[Stepan Bandera]] with a spray gun that fired a jet of poison gas from a crushed [[cyanide]] ampule, making their deaths look like heart attacks.<ref>Christopher Andrew and [[Vasili Mitrokhin]]. ''The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB.'' [[Basic Books]], 1999. {{ISBN|978-0-465-00312-9}} p. 362</ref> A 2006 case in the UK concerned the [[poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko|assassination of Alexander Litvinenko]] who was given a lethal dose of radioactive [[polonium]]-210, possibly passed to him in aerosol form sprayed directly onto his food.<ref>"[http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Sky-News-Archive/Article/20082851241951 Putin 'Deplores' Spy Death]" – [[Sky News]] Friday November 24, 2006 {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>