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",,,the selection of .223 is idiotic..."

Not necessarily. Aftermarket accessories and ammunition have made the .223 caliber rifle a very effective weapon inside of 500 meters. They are accurate at greater ranges, but lack the knockdown power of larger calibers, such as the .308.

However, the .223 due to the light weight of both the ammo and the weapon system(the M-16 or the civilian AR-15) make an ideal urban weapon, and one particularly suited to the tactics of this shooter.

After reading the (once again) exceptional posts on this board, I'd like to amend my previous post.

My first mindset was from the one shot - one kill mentality. From that mindset the objective is to kill and get away. If it takes two shots to acheive a kill, you drasticly reduce your chances of getting away. Thus there is greater emphasis on larger bullets with better cooefficents and longer ranges.

However, let's change our thinking:

The goal is now not to kill but to get as much attention as possible. Attention furthers the cause of terror and creates the panic response desired. Wounding causes police, ambulance, hospital stays, distraught parents / partners / wives on TV, etc. Thus gains the attention that would be desired.

So lets review a .223's advantages

A .223 though not the best round for dropping at long range, is very effective at sub 300 yards and in an Urban environment, a 300 yard shot would be hard to come by due to brush cars, trees, etc.

Low report and in an urban environment, difficult to identify due to sound reflections, background noise, etc.

Rifles are light weight and can be had in some very small packages. Bushmaster produces a .223 bullpup that is only 30" overall. The M4 carbine is only 34". Both are less than a yard stick long! Easy to slip back under a car seat. Then there is the Professional Ordnance Carbon 15. It's a .223 PISTOL with an overall length of 20". That would fit into a backpack (possibly even a briefcase) without even breaking it down.

Another reason for choosing .223 would be it's popularity and thus the difficulty in tracking the ammo back to the shooter.

Training with the weapon would not be expensive (.308 match grade ammo is at least a $1.00 per round) nor would it require long ranges. Many indoor ranges will accept .223 and if zeroed to 100 yards, would be a highly accurate weapon.

Add a 2x scope or passive optical sight flash and/or sound suppressor and you have a small package ideal for the mission. All in all, now that I re-think the goal, the right .223 might be just the ticket.

Not often I change my mind - but when I do, I'll admit it.