Sarah Brady:
“…I don’t believe gun owners have rights.”
Hearst Newspapers Special Report, Handguns in America” October 1997

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center
“The NRA is right…handgun controls do little to stop criminals from obtaining handguns.”

—– Original Message —–
From:
To:
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 10:04 AM
Subject: DC Sniper, Blaming the rifle…

Folks across the legal and firearms lists, just a point before you read the
article below…. I have WASTED thousands of hours of my life, dollars
better spent on other things, and bought firearms and ammunition almost
unremembered. All I needed was one of these majickal XM-15 rifles to make me
an expert shot…

KL
Guns Save Lives!
*****************************

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/4364720.htm

Posted on Fri, Oct. 25, 2002
Rifle turns inexperienced shooters into marksmen

It doesn’t take a military expert or sophisticated training to be a good
shot with type of semi-automatic rifle suspected in the Washington D.C.-area
sniper shooting, experts say.

Inexperienced shooters with a Bushman Firearm’s XM-15 A3M4 can hit targets
after a few hours of practice.

Calibrated weapons make it fairly easy for an inexperienced shooter to hit a
person 150 yards away, said Lt. Ira Parnell, sniper team supervisor for the
State Law Enforcement Division.

“There’s no real skill needed at all (to shoot an XM-15),” said Lt. Col.
Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Ret.). “It has very little recoil.”

And, he said, it’s easier to fire the XM-15 while lying down than while
standing or kneeling. Police think the sniper suspects may have shot
victims while lying inside a car.

He said a teenager could easily handle the weapon.

“We’ll never know who did the shooting unless they tell the truth to law
enforcement,” he said. “It’s entirely possible that they could have been
trading off. All it takes is good shot placement.”

Grossman bristles about calling the Washington, D.C., area shooters snipers,
saying the term should be reserved for highly-trained shooters who rescue
hostages.

- Lora Hines