Shooting at the DC Navy Yard - 12 shot, 4 of them dead

[fifth_column]

Apparently he rented a rifle at "SharpShooters Small Arms Range and gun shop in Lorton."  According to the owner as quoted here.

[Perd Hapley]

My question was mostly rhetorical. I find it hilarious that they would talk about renting a gun as if it were like renting a Buick, but I must admit the slim chance that such a thing could be.

[AJ Dual]

My question was mostly rhetorical. I find it hilarious that they would talk about renting a gun as if it were like renting a Buick, but I must admit the slim chance that such a thing could be.

Almost every gun store that rents guns gets a "Whaddya mean I gotta use it here?" at least once in their lifetime.

[Perd Hapley]

Almost every gun store that rents guns gets a "Whaddya mean I gotta use it here?" at least once in their lifetime.

   Sounds like something John Kerry would have done, for his 2004 hunting trip.

[RoadKingLarry]

For some odd reason I'm terribly skeptical about anything reported by the MSM and this administration regarding any of this.

Dude was an electronics tech in the Navy.  Not a trigger pulled, but pretty much the Navy's version of Geek Squad.

Some of us were at least qual'd with small arms for reaction forces and were "armed" for certain watches.

[Scout26]

Some of us were at least qual'd with small arms for reaction forces and were "armed" for certain watches.

True, but I'd say it was highly unlikely he was caught in a firefight or ambush or any other action.  (Unless he was Bob on the FOB and his FOB got mortared.  Again low probability.)

[geronimotwo]

I thought his ptsd was 9/11 cleanup related.

[freakazoid]

They didn't just say he rented, he also returned it before the shooting. But I'm going to assume that the media is just stupid  and that they actually meant that he had rented it to try out at the range.
I'll be slightly surprised if the antis don't spin it to try new bans on shotguns by saying they are better for killing inside or some such and that's why he didn't rent one for the shooting spree.

[lupinus]

How bout just a ban on renting?

[MillCreek]

The NYT is reporting that he did not purchase the rifle because state law prohibits the sale of such to out-of-state residents.

[Perd Hapley]

Wrong race, wrong weapon(s).

News cycle peters out on this in 2-3 days tops.

Another lefty gone feral:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/17/Navy-Yard-Shooter-friend-Describes%20Alexis-as-liberal-Obama-fan

[Perd Hapley]

Saw a survivor of the shooting being interviewed - he said that he could carry a gun, but MILITARY REGULATIONS ON BASE HAD DISARMED HIM. Didn't see the entire interview, but enough to see him assert that he could have stopped the perp sooner, but was unable to because he'd been disarmed. (Sounds a lot like Suzanna Hupp's experience with the Luby's mass shooting some years back.)

Another one:

http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/matt-vespa/if-we-had-ammunition-we-could-ve-cleared-building-son-navy-yard-told-dad

[Perd Hapley]

The NYT is reporting that he did not purchase the rifle because state law prohibits the sale of such to out-of-state residents.

That very well may be, but:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/17/miller-new-york-times-gets-it-wrong-about-navy-yar/


MSNBC imagines him with a 203. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs35NnT6lZk&feature=player_embedded

[Cliffh]

Heard how the AR-15 Assault Rifle was so accurate that a noob, "with little to no training, could put all the bullets from the magazine in a 2" circle at 100 yards".

Also heard how he'd killed those poor folks with an AR-15 Assault Rifle, but was taken down with a high-powered rifle.  This kind of word game really pisses me off.

To say I'm happy watching all those damn fools being proven wrong is an understatement.

[T.O.M.]

Watching HLN, and their expert specified it was an 870 "much like the one I own."  When asked by Robin Mead, he clarified that there was no assault weapon used, and the handguns were taken from security officers. 

Trying to put a ban on shotguns would be a fool's move.  One of the top shows on TV...Duck Dynasty...featuresbthe sporting use of shotguns in every episode.  Biden is on recors recommending shotguns for defense.  Every farmer in the country has a shotgun standing by.  They may bring it up, but it would bring on a firestorm in return.

[cordex]

Trying to put a ban on shotguns would be a fool's move.  One of the top shows on TV...Duck Dynasty...featuresbthe sporting use of shotguns in every episode.  Biden is on recors recommending shotguns for defense.  Every farmer in the country has a shotgun standing by.  They may bring it up, but it would bring on a firestorm in return.

Which is why I sort of hope they do suggest just that...

[lee n. field]

Another lefty gone feral:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/17/Navy-Yard-Shooter-friend-Describes%20Alexis-as-liberal-Obama-fan

The whole story will vanish quickly. 

[Ben]

Which is why I sort of hope they do suggest just that...

I really wish they would too. They won't. I predict they'll bring up "assault weapons" and/or magazine capacities again, and "enhanced" universal background checks. They'll drop the former to look politically reasonable and push the latter.

[TechMan]

I really wish they would too. They won't. I predict they'll bring up "assault weapons" and/or magazine capacities again, and "enhanced" universal background checks. They'll drop the former to look politically reasonable and push the latter.

Yep the old bait and switch trick...and anybody opposing it will be a right wing extremist.

[fifth_column]

It's nice to know there's at least one person at CNN that has an inkling of a clue:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/opinion/granderson-gun-control-fail/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

The folks spraying our cities with bullets are not NRA members or even legal gun owners.

. . . ridding the country of guns is a hopeless -- and unconstitutional mission -- and that the real goal should be addressing the factors that lead to the various forms of gun violence . . .[/unqoute]

[AZRedhawk44]

. . . ridding the country of guns is a hopeless -- and unconstitutional mission -- and that the real goal should be addressing the factors that lead to the various forms of gun violence . . .[/unqoute]

Well intentioned, but still focused on pre-crime.

The common key element to all this stuff is the Victim Disarmament Zone, whether it's school children, or soldiers.

[Ben]

It's nice to know there's at least one person at CNN that has an inkling of a clue:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/17/opinion/granderson-gun-control-fail/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

. . . ridding the country of guns is a hopeless -- and unconstitutional mission -- and that the real goal should be addressing the factors that lead to the various forms of gun violence . . .[/qoute]

In the comments section, "James" makes my head hurt.

[Ben]

RANT/

The guy two offices down from me just walked into my office asking if I'd heard about that crazy guy in DC with the AR15 and the shotgun. I informed him there was no AR and that the guy only had an 870. He responded to me that the news said he had the AR and that the shotgun he used had some special short barrel to make it more lethal, but he couldn't understand how he could kill someone with birdshot from four floors up, so he must have had an AR. This coworker bird hunts more than I do and uses some old Ithaca pump with a 24 inch barrel. When I explained the concept of using buckshot. he looked like the hamsters on his brain treadmill were on speed. He didn't believe me when I said the shooter used the shotgun to take the pistols of onsite security. I'm shutting my door for the rest of the day.

/RANT

[AJ Dual]

Well intentioned, but still focused on pre-crime.

The common key element to all this stuff is the Victim Disarmament Zone, whether it's school children, or soldiers.

Pretty much this. The disaffected people who do this are usually trying to get one last hurrah of power, dominance, and control in a life they've felt to be weak and powerless. Just adding in the possibility of uncertainty that some random intended victim will shoot back ruins it for them. They don't want to fail at what they feel is one last chance at some sort of success to cap off their life with.

Of course there are police and armed guards, however, they can be reduced by the shooter mentally as "known quantities" i.e., the guardpost or uniform which allows for a "shoot me first" protocol which makes the potentially more even conflict there bearable because they as the initiator have the advantage of surprise etc.

Introduce that level of uncertainty everywhere, and while I'm sure not all will abandon their plans for spree shootings, a great deal of them will just decide to kill themselves alone instead.

RANT/

The guy two offices down from me just walked into my office asking if I'd heard about that crazy guy in DC with the AR15 and the shotgun. I informed him there was no AR and that the guy only had an 870. He responded to me that the news said he had the AR and that the shotgun he used had some special short barrel to make it more lethal, but he couldn't understand how he could kill someone with birdshot from four floors up, so he must have had an AR. This coworker bird hunts more than I do and uses some old Ithaca pump with a 24 inch barrel. When I explained the concept of using buckshot. he looked like the hamsters on his brain treadmill were on speed. He didn't believe me when I said the shooter used the shotgun to take the pistols of onsite security. I'm shutting my door for the rest of the day.

/RANT

I'd needle that guy mercilessly. About how "Riot shotguns should be restricted because of how they can shoot indiscriminately in a spread, and how most people don't know they have a BORE EVEN BIGGER THAN FIFTY CALIBER!" etc. 

[AZRedhawk44]

The whole disarmament thing on .mil bases cracks me up, in a very depressing way.

Seems that a pair of loser bank robbers could completely take over an army base.  A typical urban Police station has more readily deployable firepower, at what appears to be about 2-3 orders of magnitude.  Bumbleskank, Arkansas city hall has about twice the firepower.

Those 19 AQ pilots who hijacked planes could have instead taken over about 4-5 bases in the continental US, instead.