The DC Area Sniper

[Max]

OK ... on reading my original post again I admit I got the tone wrong. But a passive aggressive "stab"? Not so.

Of course each country's laws are its own concern, but in this case IMHO they do affect others - for instance, there was a series of incidents a while back where a number of UK visitors to Florida were victims of shootings in a pretty short space of time. Understandably, they were very well publicised over here. That sort of thing, and the US homicide stats etc, are bound to be difficult to understand for some of us non-Americans.

But I will follow Donk (who is the gentleman as always) and keep my trap shut on this from now on.

 

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bairdoman: When the constitution was drafted, the countyr was a very different place.  Many people still USED guns for food and other purposes.  The Constitutional right was only added for that reason and the reason that the British Army had confiscated arms from the American-sympathizing(sp) patriots.  The Right was only added because the times were different, and the people voiced tehir concern for those reasons.  I have some security issues with my home, we found a kinfe in our front yard on my motehrs birthday, were followed home one night, two break ins over the summer and various other scares.  I would never, ever even consider having a firearm in my house.  (Nor would my parents)  They do more harm than good.  Period.  Just One person's life is not the price for one million people feeling safe.

 

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stlmale: I heard many on television claim that it is so easy to alter "ballistic fingerprints" that it was pointless to attempt this system? Also it would be impossible to then detect a ballistic footprint off of a firearm which has a barrel other than the one it was purchased with ? Or am I wrong here ?

[quote author=Finedessert link=board=99;num=1034747083;start=0#6 date=10/16/02 at 15:43:19]Well, Thanks to the NRA and the ProGun Lobby, Congress has poo pooed any new law the would require Gun Makers to do a Ballistic Fingerprint of the Guns they make, and to require anyone that owns a Gun to do the same. If a Ballistic Fingerprint law was in effect this so called "Sniper" most likely would have been caught by now.

Don't get me wrong I'm not anti-Gun owner, but I am anti-Gun NUT owner.

Grandpa[/quote]

 

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Finedessert: "Also it would be impossible to then detect a ballistic footprint off of a firearm which has a barrel other than the one it was purchased with ? Or am I wrong here ?"

That's an interesting point, BUT I think it would depend on the type of Gun as to whither the barrel can be changed. If that was the case don't you think the sniper would know that and have more than one barrel, say one for each shooting?

Grandpa

 

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Finedessert: I pray that the Two Suspects taken into the arms of law inforcement today are found to be the snipers, so this madness will stop.

Grandpa

 

[D_Martin van Burden]

[quote author=drrionelli link=board=99;num=1034747083;start=15#19 date=10/18/02 at 09:41:13]DeeBlackthorne suggests that we have "...an indiscriminate killer..."[/quote]

Thanks, Dr., for the kind words.

Well, so noted here, my "indiscriminate" response was an echo of what much commentary suggested during the first coverage of the sniper attacks -- that indiscrimination was to emerge from the choice of those wounded and killed.

I was pretty much glued to CNN during my morning shift at the restaurant, and to my dismay, found suspects that are being linked with terrorism, al-Qaeda activity / alignment, etc. To appear of darker ethnicity and to have a surname that suggests Arab descent, that's what kills me. Sorry. The whole terrorism rot since last year has me in a state of apathy; I express pain and sorrow for those who lost loved ones to this tragedy, but I'm most certainly over the "never forget" vibe that has developed. We'd like to forget some of history's atrocities, goodness knows, but as our President has demonstrated during his time in office, he most certainly isn't interested in mediation and settling conflict and prefers a bad-ass confrontational style with little forethought.

Quell immediate fears and settle the itch to push the big red button. If you ask me, we'll never hear the end of terrorism.

 

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Donk: I would submit that terrorists, by definition, are not interested in "mediation and settling conflict." I am thankful that we have a President who understands this.

 

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stlmale: Well, he would only require one additional barrel to avoid detection by a FBI database. But we are missing the point anyway, the nut doesn't care if he could be traced, he was tracked by means of his own ignorance but not before shooting 13 unfortunate souls. I've only owned handguns and could interchange barrels on them in about 2 minutes. I don't know what effect sanding or otherwise scoring the inner barrel would have on the balistic fingerprint. I would gladly give up all my firearms if the government assured me others will do the same.

[quote author=Finedessert link=board=99;num=1034747083;start=15#23 date=10/23/02 at 05:07:31]"Also it would be impossible to then detect a ballistic footprint off of a firearm which has a barrel other than the one it was purchased with ? Or am I wrong here ?"

That's an interesting point, BUT I think it would depend on the type of Gun as to whither the barrel can be changed. If that was the case don't you think the sniper would know that and have more than one barrel, say one for each shooting?

Grandpa
[/quote]

 

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KevK: Donk:

Having read through this long exchange I gotta say your thoughts on this subject impressed me, unpopular though they may be with some of the other LPSGers. Thanks.

Regardless of our differing views on gun ownership, let's all be glad those two nutjobs are out of circulation. Assuming our courts don't turn em loose any time soon.

 

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Donk: Kev, thanks for the kind words. I've never been afraid to speak my mind, even when my views are "politically incorrect", as they often are. And I appreciate thoughtful discussion with people who have different views. I'm glad that we were able to have a civil exchange on this hot topic. I think that speaks well of the personalities on this board.