Just out of curiosity, does a nail gun continue to fire if you hold the trigger down or is it single shot device requiring a finger pull for each nail?
There are surely different types, but the ones I've used have always fired one or two nails per activation of the compressor. You have to get the timing right to make sure you don't fire two. But after that, the gun needs more air so you have to squeeze again to get another nail out. It's not full-auto.
This sounds to me like a warning, not a suicide.
I have never used one. I cannot imagine someone planning their demise with a nail gun.
You got,to pull it each and every time.
A couple of problems, though. First, the nails are coated with a sort of glue (that's what keeps the strips together). When they go into you, they hurt! (I was framing a building addition years ago, and had the wall laid out on the ground--a knot I didn't see deflected the nail upward in the sill plate and into my hand instead of the stud. First reaction was to pull my hand back (wrong way), until I realized I needed to push it forward to get it off the nail).
Doing that to yourself would require some serious determination (or anaesthesia), and would be an odd choice for a tool of self-destruction.
Second, even back when, these devices had a safety mechanism to keep some idiot from shooting nails all over a job site willy-nilly. You have to push the front of the nail gun against something you want to nail. I'm not sure soft tissue would work well enough unless backed by bone, but that extra effort should have left a bruise or some mark, at least part of the time.
Yes, those can be thwarted by wiring the safety back, but who'd want to, and how many bankers would know that?
One pull of the trigger, one nail.
Nail guns come in two styles: air compressor powered or flammable gas powered.
The compressor powered ones can fire one after the other, sem-auto (one per trigger pull or one for every time the ‘nose’ of the gun touches the surface to be nailed.) As long as the compressor has enough pressure, you can ‘fire’ one after the other until the nail magazine is empty. But ONE at a time, NOT full auto unless modified by the user. Some roofers and crazy framers mod their nail guns, but it takes some work to do it. If you have ever listened to roofers putting shingles on a roof, you have heard what I am talking about - the pop pop pop, ... pop, pop, pop, pop as they nail a course of shingles down.
This is NOT full auto, and requires a compressor powered gun - the ones with the hose attached. I have three of these in various sizes, used for trim work - like molding and casing.
The gas-explosion powered ones - I am partial to the Paslode brand - work MUCH slower on repeat fires. You push the nose down on the work, butane or propane gas fills a small combustion chamber, you pull the trigger and the battery makes a spark that explodes the gas and the nail is powered into the wood or concrete. These I use for Framing/ rough in construction where maneuverability and power and portability are the key factors. You CANNOT in my experience rapid fire these devices because you cannot charge the compression chamber quickly.
Now I take care of my tools and have had mine for some years - like 2 - 10 years, so my knowledge may be outdated a bit, but I betcha the core truth remains: to repeatedly shoot your self with a nail gun requires determination, so to speak.
Other tool guys should chime in as well.
A nail gun has a protrusion that must be depressed when the trigger is pulled. If not pressed against something it will not fire.
The ones I’ve used will keep going if you keep it down, as long as the point makes contact with the surface you’re nailing. It has a retractable piece in front that acts as a safety.
Most have a front safety and shouldn’t fire unless the gun is firmly depressed against a solid object like a 2 X 4 or plywood sheet. Older models might lack that feature, but I haven’t see the murder weapon.
There’s an interlock at the “muzzle,” but it could easily be disabled.