WASHINGTON SNIPER HAS A FRIEND IN NRA - HOW THE ORGANIZATION HAS UNWITTINGLY HELPED A FIEND

Philadelphia Daily News ^ | 10/10/2002 | unsigned editorial

[dirtboy]

FORGET HANNIBAL LECTER, the embodiment of evil in its purest form is roaming the Washington, D.C., area right now, killing and wounding adults and children with cold dispatch.

We don't know his name, but we do know this: The mystery sniper who has all of Washington hiding under its covers has an identifiable partner in crime who should be held nearly as responsible for these reprehensible acts as the shooter - the National Rifle Association.

Because of the NRA, police are having a harder time catching this crazy than they should.

Other than a chilling tarot card depicting death and bearing this handwritten message "Dear Policeman: I am God," investigators have found only one other kind of clue to track this monster down: bullet fragments.

Ballistics have long allowed police to link a bullet to a particular gun. So if they ever find this killer and his weapon, they can clearly connect rifle and crime.

But what if you could reverse the process and link a gun to a particular bullet? The technology now exists for every gun's ballistic "fingerprint" to be kept on file. In this way, police could instantly know which specific gun was used in the commission of a crime and track down the owner.

But who has opposed this sensible idea? The NRA. The organization has bullied Congress into refusing to set up a national registry of guns.

A federal program is needed because a piecemeal effort won't be enough. Maryland, where many of these shootings have been committed, requires gun manufacturers to submit ballistic fingerprints of guns sold in the state. But that information is useless if the weapon was purchased in another state, or before the requirement went into effect.

Experts believe the weapon being used is either an assault rifle or a hunting rifle. A hunting rifle, in particular, will be difficult to trace because the NRA has been very effective in keeping any information about hunting rifles away from law enforcement officials.

We're all for privacy, but it's reckless to put privacy of gun ownership above human lives. If the government has a compelling reason to know what car you drive, what home you live in and how much you earn, shouldn't it also know what kind of gun you own?

Nothing will bring back the six lives - or possibly a seventh victim gunned down last night - that have been lost, or spare the pain and terror a 13-year-old felt when he was cut down by a .223 caliber bullet. But maybe this horror in the nation's capital will finally force Congress to ignore the dangerous rhetoric of the NRA.

[dirtboy]

The gun-grabbers are crawling back out from under their rocks. This screed is truly reprehensible.

[apillar]

Tsk.... Tsk....

Somebody didn't get the DNC memo...

Gun Control is soooo 90's.

[Joe Brower]

We were wondering how long it would take the blood-dancers to come out of hiding and attempt to capitalize on these events. Predictably, it hasn't taken them long.

MWLWN LABE

[RooRoobird14]

I knew it was just a matter of days before the Leftist Media/Million Commie Mommy Complex would start blaming Charlton Heston and Wayne LaPierre for the sniper shootings.

[NativeNewYorker]

These are the same folks who apologized for putting a gallery of murder suspects on their cover...only because the alleged perps were all men of color.

[justshe]

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[Eddeche]

Using this logic we should fingerprint, DNA test, handwriting sample, and voice-print every person in america also.

[Eddeche]

also a monthly tire-tread analysis of every vehicle on the country - bicyles, skateboards and scooters too. Even big wheels.

[N. Theknow]

Just one simple question...

What if the gun did not come from the United States?

[knighthawk]

Becaus of the Clinton administration's lack of willingness to act against terrorists, even after the 1998 statement that one Osama bin Laden wanted to kill as much Americans and Jews as he could, 3000 people were killed.

Why don't these gungrabbers care about that?

[TC Rider]

On an earlier thread we had quite a discussion on how very easy it is to change the 'ballistic fingerprint' of expended cartridges, once they are registered.

This entire argument is a waste of time and hot air. Maryland is wasting millions with their handgun program over the last two years and so far there has not been a single conviction due to their registry.

[SirFishalot]

One GLARING thing that this article leave out is the fact that there are already a number of these databases already in place and to date, not one crime has been solved with them.

[Phantom Lord]

Testing a rilfe prior to sale and keeping its "fingerprint" on file is useless. Run a small file down the barrel after purchase and the old figerprint won't do you squat since it will no longer exist on fired rounds.

[Freedom2specul8]

Ok folks..it's time to raise our second amendment awareness meter to "red"..

Send in letters, emails and make phone calls ..telling our reps and senators to defend our God Given Right To Self-Defense!!

Write the media and tell them to not let this turn into a "every gunowner is bad" campaign.

[SledgeCS]

Well, I see it did not take long for the ballistic fingerprint arguement to pop up again. If they ever succeed in getting a law requiring this garbage then they will scream about the existing guns out there not being fingerprinted.

I can just see the reaction of some people around the country when the inspectors pound on your door demanding to get a balistic sample of all of your existing guns.

Bang! There is your sample do you want another...

[cousair]

Lets all run out the slam the barn door shut after the horse is out!! What a stupid story from a phantom writer who didn't sign his or her name!!

[MassExodus]

This needs a "2500 f.ps. projectile VOMIT alert" in the headline.

[gridlock]

A federal program is needed because a piecemeal effort won't be enough. Maryland, where many of these shootings have been committed, requires gun manufacturers to submit ballistic fingerprints of guns sold in the state. But that information is useless if the weapon was purchased in another state, or before the requirement went into effect....

So, I'm just waiting for the statement from the State of Maryland that they have compared the fragments found against the existing Maryland database of "gun fingerprints" and have determined that the gun used is not one of the guns in the database....

Waiting....

Glancing at watch....

Dum, dee, dum dum....

Hmmmmm.....

What's taking those guys so long? I thought this was supposed to be easy!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Explains why its unsigned.

If the citizens were allowed to arm themselves, this perp would've been dead last week.

[dennisw]

What horse pucky. This stupid project would cost billions. Let the liberal millionaires/billionaires pay for such garbage.

In Canada they spent a billion for a totally screwed up database of gunowners and guns.