If ever the argument that gun-control of the kind most commonly proposed would do NOTHING to prevent the deaths is true, this would be the case. See below.
> NY Press
> I?m with Ashcroft
> By Michelangelo Signorile
[...]
> I?m not calling for taking away this right, mind you, so hunters need not,
> um, shoot me. I?m just suggesting banning the sale of, oh, say, sniper
> rifles and "military style" assault rifles like the one the Beltway sniper
> is suspected of using, as well the .223 ammunition (confirmed as having
> been used by the sniper) that shatters inside its target?s body, doing
> deadly damage.
This is ignorant. The distinctions between "sniper rifles" and hunting rifles are all spin. Well hinting rifles are usually made of wood and "sniper rifles" might be a composite stock. But that doesn't make one any less deadly than the other, despite how much more frightening one may appear.
Most snipers/hunters prefer larger calibre ammunition anyway, something in the .30 (7.62mm) calibre. .223 (5.56mm) is not used to snipe because it is a light round easily susceptible to being sent off target by foliage or wind. The DC area sniper probably chose .223 because there are so many manufacturers that it would be harder to track sales, not that it is more deadly since it "shatters".
Matt
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