"loaded, bolt-action military rifle" - This description is more than a bit curious to the informed observer. It would be interesting to know precisely what rifle this was and how it was setup. Based on experience (e.g. the UT Tower sniper Charles Whitman killed 13 and wounded many others in 1966) a determined individual with a bolt-action rifle and a good location can do a lot of damage. The US miliary still uses bolt-action rifles (e.g. tuned up Remington 700's in .308/7.62 caliber) as sniper weapons. DO expect the Brady/MMM bunch to campaign against scoped high-power bolt-action rifles as "sniper" weapons in the near future, along with their efforts to ban semi-autos. Schumer, Feinswine and others of that ilk fear that the cross hairs may end up on their center of mass when the peasants decide to vote from the rooftops.
bump
Good points and so-o-o-o true.
In the minds of at least some, the descriptor "military" connotes a far more powerful and deadly kind of weapon so attaching yet another ignorantly used term to the spreading fear of the 'black rifle' plague and isolating bolt-actions as 'evil' is a very profitable tactic for the hate America crowd.
I imagine this guy very likely had a something like a bargain American '03, a British Enfield or some other retired rifle from foreign armories just because of their wide availability and low price. Potentially very effective, but hardly the grade of many modern commerical bolt-actions. But, hey, who cares - this ain't about facts, reason or logic anyhow.
Exactly, the first time someone gets shot by a gangster at 400 yards, the gun grabbers will be all over it. So long to scoped "assasin rifles".
While I concurr with the balance of your premise, I do believe that Whitman used a .30cal M1 Carbine (semi-auto, military surplus,...etc.), the sad results of which give lie to the "inneffectiveness" of that particular cartridge.
BTW, I love your "voting from the rooftops" analogy.
Quash this sort of stuff.
Voting from the ballot box seems to be doing just fine.
1 Penn Plaza has no open windows from which to shoot from and it is so tall that the roof would be a useless sniper's perch I recon.