I don't know why the media continues to refer to this gun toting whacko as a highly skilled marksman.  My eight year old boy can make 100-150 yard shots with a scoped rifle in .223.  Not only that but this idiot has not been making head shots as most skilled snipers would, especially at such a close range.  This idiot has hit his victims center mass, in the shoulder, in the belly and actually missed an easy shot on one victim.  Of course I guess the media wouldn't know what constitute a skilled marksman since most of those pencil neck geeks never owned or shot a gun.  I would refer to the Md./Va. sniper as the village idiot who just got a gun and wants to play army because he really doesn't have a real life.

Nevertheless, regardless of how skilled he may be, he is by definition a "sniper" - one who shoots from a position of concealment.  

I'll agree with the term "sniper" because that could also include someone sitting in a tree with a slingshot shooting people as they pass by.  But highly skilled gunman is a real joke!

To anyone with a passing interest in firearms, real world firearms experience(ranging from very to not so much), or atleast mildly educated about the use of firearms would understand that these aren't fairly impressive shots being made.


Problem for us is that the media is really winning over those who are uneducated about firearms and what should be considered out of the ordinary or standard fair is totally lost on them.


CNN had some officer on the other day and the news commentator asks something like, "Officer Snatchface, would you say that having a high magnification scope on a rifle and trying to make these shots is a difficult challenge?"    Officer responds, "yes, I'd say that the shooter is beyond average skill and that these are indeed difficult shots"



Goddamned officer was just fuckin over sportsmen nation wide with those comments.   You know that the media outlets are looking for people who will make these types of comments too, making comments that won't make the news host look like an idiot when their questions receive an answer that they weren't expecting.


We're all done for if this type of stuff is allowed to continue.


It's probably been said by someone already, the media is going about it all wrong in the way they are presenting this "sniper" as having a talent for this sort of thing.   If anything they should be calling this guy a shitty shot, telling him that he's nothing more than a psychopath with an itchy trigger finger, and that on any day of the week there are thousands of people who are better than him.    Don't stoke his ego making him think he is talented, piss him off and maybe he'll try something that he isn't actually capable of and the mistake will land his ass in a bear trap.

A sniper is a professional with a specific task for either law enforcement or military.  This guy is a killer...murderer of innocents.  Allowing sniper to be used turns this into a topic for gun control.

The word derivation is snipe, meaning a bird that snaps up.

I know it's easy to fall in to the media's use of a word but they do it to sell the story or change it.  Remember Reuters where they stopped using the word terrorist for a while.  

It's an old story, when you define the argument it makes it easier to win and when your define the elements....even easier.

I agree totally... The media needs to stop glorifying this "no talent bastard" and paint him as the piece of shit that he is.  The title "skilled marksman" should be reserved for a hunter who can make a kill shot on an elk @ 600 yds., a military or law enforcement sniper or perhaps a gold medalist in an olympic rifle competition.  It is obvious that this dumbshit couldn't kill a deer @ 100 yds without gutt-shooting it and ruining alot of good meat!  

Ya... I heard Ms. Katie Couric (however you spell that bitches name) trying to say something of the sort.  She wanted an ATF agent to explain how the .223 bullet was designed to spin as it came out of the barrel to cause more damage when it hit the victim.  The ATF agent told her all bullets spin when they come out of the barrel due to rifling.  I had to laugh...

Have to disagree, a sniper is a description of a method of operation, not a job title. Outside the big NATO countries, most successful snipers have quiet feet, a good sense of cover, and work alone or in pairs if at all. Some of the highest kill talleys on record have been racked up by snipers in the Balkan wars (since the invention of the rifled musket)over the past few centuries.

A sniper need not be well trained, or equipped with any fancy rifle, some of the most deadly, cruel shooters in the Balkans were country boy conscripts who picked up a scoped SKS or an ancient scoped M-48 Mauser and started picking people off. Sejerevo as an example, its estimated by the UN that less than a twenty five well hidden shooters killed more than a thousand people, both combatants and civies, during the fighting there. How many of them had fancy weapons or training?

HEY! i resent that "guntoting" comment! [shock]

Seems to me, most all of these shots could have easily been made by your average deer hunter...

(Or disgruntled LE sniper that didn't make the SWAT team)

And FWIW...

One of the latest victims was taken down with a head shot...

A little reason perhaps...

[URL]http://www.northjersey.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?id=5259930[/URL]

This, (these), guy(s), may be called a lot of things, but "village idiot" is not one of them. In spite of the most intensive manhunt in history, he (they), has eluded capture for 10 days or so, and is still racking up a score.....

RebelGray, you are correct......

I'll still go with the title of "Village Idiot".  I don't think it would take any great skill to elude capture for awhile especially when there are so many places that can be hit without warning.  The fact is, nobody knows when or where the Idiot is going to strike next so it is impossible to act, only to react.  A highly skilled individual would never have left shell casings or clues behind and would have gone totally undetected (no white van sightings or video surveillance camera pics).

As far as the comment about this guy being a former LEO who couldn't make the SWAT team.... I would guess that it would more likely be a non-LEO who is frustrated because he couldn't become a cop! ha ha

Now it's begining to make more sense!  The latest news about the sniper using an AK type rifle explains why he's only been making center mass and gutt shots.  Making those full body shots @ 100 yds with an AK must make him a skilled marksman after all....

Duke-

Most .223 AKs I've ever shot were most definitly capable of making head shots at 100yds. Hell, MOST 7.62 cal AKs I've shot would make a headshot as well.

O.K., you've convinced me that the .223 AK is capable of accuracy out to and beyong 100 yds.  I guess I'll go back to my original school of thought and call the Va. sniper a "Gutt shootin, gun toting village idiot" again.

His most recent head shot was fired from 30 feet away.

I dont think anyone has established exacty where any of the other shots were fired from. So the distance is impossible to determine.

I don't think he or they are idiots. I don't think that they have the time to hunker down into the correct shooting position and aim for an eyebrow or an ear for every shot. It's not like they have weeks or days in advance to plan the site of the shooting, or even where the target would be. If he/they missed a couple of times going for headshots, he/they wouldn't be as scary to the public would they? I think he/they would shoot for center mass everytime to increase the odds of scoring a hit everytime. I just think that they/he would rather score a hit everytime, rather than miss now and then. Just a thought.

30ft?????????And they STILL couldn't catch him/her?????You'd think SOMEONE coulda'.....oh
I don't know......maybe FOLLOWED him???


(No dis to you AR-15fan)

If the "sniper" is an expert........then we all must be HIGHLY TRAINED ASASSIANS!!!!

The one thing that troubles me about this person is that it gets into position, fires, and usually gets away without being seen. For that reason, I would say soldier/sniper. Not for range or accuracy.
I did not imply that it is an ex-US service member. We may have the best armed forces, but, we do not have the only armed forces.

I still maintain that any person, with a little planning, can accomplish the same or better than the so called Va. sniper.  I do not think he/they is an expert of any sort and I didn't think he has military training.  I think he is probably a pissed off radical thinking Middle-eastern male (or two) who feel they are doing their part to support the terrorist movement.  I also think that these guys are in the U.S. legally and have been here awhile.  The fact that they elude capture and won't go so far as to blow themselves up (to finally meet Ala) makes me think that they have been accustomed to the American lifestyle (the good life) and want to hang around a bit longer to enjoy it.

MacDaddy,
With only "Unarmed Peasants (or Subjects!) around I would not expect one of them to follow someone who just shot someone else.

Now down here where we have the right to carry then you would be more likely to get someone to follow him. Heck if there were "Witnesses" to a shooting then you might even get some "Returned Fire" at the "White cargo van, Chevrolet Astro type van or the Ford Econoline type van (with a ladder rack of course!)!!![pistol]

I hope they catch this "Cowardly murdering punk" soon!

BigDozer66

no, i hope they don't catch him. i hope their forced to kill the asswipe.

[url]www.dictionary.com/search?q=sniper[/url]




yeah he is a sniper
highly skilled no.

MacDaddy,
With only "Unarmed Peasants (or Subjects!) around I would not expect one of them to follow someone who just shot someone else.

Now down here where we have the right to carry then you would be more likely to get someone to follow him. Heck if there were "Witnesses" to a shooting then you might even get some "Returned Fire" at the "White cargo van, Chevrolet Astro type van or the Ford Econoline type van (with a ladder rack of course!)!!![pistol]

I hope they catch this "Cowardly murdering punk" soon!

BigDozer66
[/quote]


BigDozer66,Y'all got it GOOD in the LoneStar State.Tennessee is CLOSE to having it that good; and we're working on it to have things the way y'all got it down there up here.