[5by5]

I too live in an urban environment. And sometimes I hear gunshots.

I know what they sound like, and I can tell a pistol from a shotgun from a high-powered rifle. The urban enviroment will have more noise, but it will also have more people and potential witnesses. Some of the shots sound like they were more suburban. Fewer people but the sound of gunfire stands out more.

On the silencer issue, show me an effective silencer for supersonic bullets like the .223 and I'll make a fortune in aerospace technology. On the otherhand, silencing a .22 is child's play. The reason for the difference is the muzzle blast vs. the shockwave. One can be silenced, one not.

I maintain that someone has likely heard some of these shots. If so, they could help catch the guy if they had thought ahead about what they would do if they heard it.

You could just accept the inevitablity of it all, live in fear and hide under the covers. Or you can think ahead and try to do something about it. Let's roll!

[antivenom]

I maintain that someone has likely heard some of these shots. If so, they could help catch the guy if they had thought ahead about what they would do if they heard it.

AHHHH yea...and "IF the dog didn't stop to crap he would have "caught" the rabbit"...good old Texas-ism...