As of this writing, I don't know exactly what kind of weapon was used to murder those innocent children and schoolteachers in Connecticut. Latest word is that the shooter had two handguns and a .223 caliber rifle. I'm assuming the rifle is an assault-type semiautomatic, rather than a bolt-action or single-fire.
The term ".223" means that the bullet jacket is two hundred twenty-three thousandths of an inch in diameter. The .223 is designed for hunting, varmints and plunking, with a lighter load of powder than the comparable 5.56 NATO round. (The 5.56 is designed for protecting Europe from the Red Army of the Soviet Union.)
For a couple of hundred bucks, you can pick up a .223 rifle. With only a moment's searching, I found a serviceable AR-15 .223 with a 30 round clip for about $720. Depending on the power of the ammunition and bulk discounts, bullets range from about $.25 - 1.00 each.
So: .223 assault rifle + lots of .223 ammo = ~$800.
For 28 lives, that works out to about $29 per life.
In case anyone is counting.
UPDATE: The killer started by taking his mom's Glock and shooting her in the face. After she was dead, he took her Sig Sauer and an AR-15 to the school. The rifle was found in the car, so all the killing was done with the Glock and the Sig.
I'm too sick at heart to redo the calculations as to the cost of the weapons and ammo.
===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.
The term ".223" means that the bullet jacket is two hundred twenty-three thousandths of an inch in diameter. The .223 is designed for hunting, varmints and plunking, with a lighter load of powder than the comparable 5.56 NATO round. (The 5.56 is designed for protecting Europe from the Red Army of the Soviet Union.)
For a couple of hundred bucks, you can pick up a .223 rifle. With only a moment's searching, I found a serviceable AR-15 .223 with a 30 round clip for about $720. Depending on the power of the ammunition and bulk discounts, bullets range from about $.25 - 1.00 each.
So: .223 assault rifle + lots of .223 ammo = ~$800.
For 28 lives, that works out to about $29 per life.
In case anyone is counting.
UPDATE: The killer started by taking his mom's Glock and shooting her in the face. After she was dead, he took her Sig Sauer and an AR-15 to the school. The rifle was found in the car, so all the killing was done with the Glock and the Sig.
I'm too sick at heart to redo the calculations as to the cost of the weapons and ammo.
===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.
I can't bear this tragedy. Every time I think of it, I cry. I can't even begin to imagine the pain felt by those parents of dead children. Children!!! I mean, why??????
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can hope is that Americans will stop their love affair with "the right to bear arms" and think instead of the thousands of innocent victims who die every single year at the hand of guns.