'Did Va Tech Gunman Use High-Capicity Ammo Clip'? Brian Ross, ABC News

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Brian Ross, the ABC investigative journalist who nailed a Florida Congressman for abusing pages, is working on a story about the Virginia Tech massacre. Apparently, his angle is to look at the possible impact of expiration of a Federal assault weapons ban two years ago. Did Dubya and his far-right band of gun-lobby bribees facilitate dozens of high profile murders?

From http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=nation_world&id=5215992 :

'Did Virginia Tech Gunman Use High Capacity Ammo Clip?

By Brian Ross and Dana Hughes

High capacity ammo clips became widely available for sale when Congress failed to renew a law that banned assault weapons.

Web sites now advertise overnight UPS delivery of the clips, which carry up to 40 rounds for both semi-automatic rifles, including 9mm pistols, and handguns. "High capacity magazines read extreme firepower and gusto. Stock Up!" is the headline of one of many gun shop Web sites.

Virginia law enforcement officials have not identified the weapon used in the shootings today at Virginia Tech, but gun experts say the number of shots fired indicate, at the very least, that the gunman had large quantities of ammunition. "When you have a weapon that can shoot off 20, 30 rounds very quickly, you're going to have a lot more injuries," said Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "It's not one or two shots at a time when you're putting 20 bullets, spraying them into a classroom or into a dorm room," Helmke said."'

[Sapere aude]

1. I heard the clip he used carried 19 rounds and the law use to allow only 10 rounds.

Now if that is true, he could have reloaded more often yet caused the same tragedy since he was prepared with already loaded clips. I don't think the 9 extra rounds made that much difference if what I heard was true.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

5. Isn't a lone gunman MOST vulnerable to being jumped and restrained when

he's reloading?

If so, the death toll at Virginia Tech might have been cut in half had Cho Seung-Hui not had high-capacity clips, if in fact he did have them.

In the wall-to-wall coverage on MSNBBC, I heard one of the students in the German class that got hit say that overturned desks prevented him from trying to jump the gunman as he reloaded. That student might have gotten a second opportunity to end the rampage had different hardware been deployed.

"Would not have made much difference?" Ask the parents of the dozens who were murdered if they agree. I hope Brian Ross and his ABC crews do exactly that. It's the parents of the dead students who have the most standing to condemn all the conditions that enabled and exacerbated their tragedy.

[michreject]

10. It takes about a second to reload

Hit the mag release button, mag falls out, slam a new one in.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

15. It only takes a second to throw a chair at a gunman, too.

I can recall hearing news stories about gunmen who were successfully jumped while reloading. Maybe one of the cable channels will re-run some of them this week.

[soothsayer]

8. eh, so you just get twice as many clips or magazines or whatever

[slackmaster]

2. 17 rounds is standard capacity for the Glock that was used

I doubt that it would have made much difference if the shooter had been equipped with 10-round magazines. Less capacity just means you need to change them a little more often, and that only takes a couple of seconds with practice.

High capacity ammo clips became widely available for sale when Congress failed to renew a law that banned assault weapons.

That's somewhat misleading. At no point during the expired ban were magazines that hold more than 10 rounds NOT widely available.

[malaise]

3. Ask Bush and his Rethug Congress

why they allowed the law against these clips to expire without comment. The NRA owns them.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

9. Will any reporter ask Bush about this when he visits Blacksburg to exploit

another tragedy today?

[TX-RAT]

13. Hi cap mags were still available under the ban.

[jean]

4. Olbermann mentioned this last night - said the clips were those formerly

outlawed ... but Bush and the Congress didn't renew the law and it lapsed.

[roamer65]

6. Olbermann is correct.

I own two Glocks and the high-cap magazines flowed onto market the minute the ban expired. I absolutely was for the renewal of that 10 round limit on handgun magazines.

[malaise]

14. KO is always correct

:D

[aikoaiko]

7. Not that it matters much for this discussion, but they are called magazines. clips are different.

I'll go look for the picture.

[michreject]

11. Thank you.

I get tired of being bitched at for making that correction.

[Zynx]

12. When you're carrying several hundred rounds, what's the difference?