I saw a wire service report the other day that said military sharpshooters are upset that the Washington, DC serial killer is being referred to as a “sniper.” “Snipers don’t take innocent life,” one sharpshooter said. Is it just me, or is there a lack of perspective in play here? An armed assailant is killing people at random, using a single bullet in each attack, firing from as far as 100 yards away and these guys are on a mission to uphold the good name of snipers.
The police are doing everything they can to apprehend the guilty party or parties, but they’re flying on instruments only. Ballistic forensic experts have been able to determine, within hours of each shooting, that the attacks are linked. By examining the bullet or bullet fragments, it can be determined all the bullets were fired from the same gun. Good information to have, no doubt, but all it tells us is that the killer is a serial murderer, striking again and again. It doesn’t tell us who the murderer is.
Each bullet fired by the same gun has identical markings left on it by the gun. The shell casing has marks left on it, too, which can be used to link various shootings together. They’re called ballistic fingerprints, but they’re only useful in convicting the criminal after the criminal has been caught, unless we already have a copy of the ballistic fingerprint on file.
In Maryland and New York, before a new handgun is sold, it must be test-fired and a copy of that gun’s ballistic fingerprint is filed. No state has a ballistic fingerprint requirement for long guns, like the one being used by this killer. If we had such laws, I doubt the body count would have risen to nine. Police would probably have the criminal in custody by now. But that is not the case. Ballistic fingerprinting remains out of reach in most cases, tying the hands of the police, thanks to the effective lobbying of the National Rifle Association.
It gets worse. Half a world away, investigators are combing through wreckage and bits of human bodies, trying to understand the terrorist blast that killed almost 200 people in Bali. Again, the best forensic experts have been brought in and have determined the bomb was constructed with military-grade plastic explosives. Like the police in Virginia and Maryland, they’re flying on instruments only with much potential information deliberately withheld.
For over 20 years, we have had the technical means to trace the origin of explosives. Several European countries require explosives manufacturers to include taggants as an integral part of the explosive.
Taggants are microscopic, color-coded pieces of plastic mixed with explosives during manufacture. After the material is exploded, the taggants are scattered about the blast area and can be used to identify the company of origin and even the specific batch of explosives.
Taggants can be added to dynamite and gunpowder as well, like the gunpowder in the .223 caliber bullets fired by the Washington sniper. That’s right, just like ballistic fingerprinting, taggants are another tool which could significantly aid police, but they are not required in the U.S. because of the criminal-coddling wackos of the NRA and their allies in the explosives industry who don’t want to face hard questions about why so many of their explosives end up in the hands of criminal and terrorists.
Criminals and terrorists the world over can breathe easier knowing John Ashcroft and George Bush will slap any number of people in jail and deprive them of the Constitutional rights, but they will never, never do anything to displease their political patrons in the gun lobby.
Bang Bang, Baby
I saw a wire service report the other day that said military sharpshooters are upset that the Washington, DC serial killer is being referred to as a “sniper.” “Snipers don’t take innocent life,” one sharpshooter said. Is it just me, or is there a lack of perspective in play here? An armed assailant is killing people at random, using a single bullet in each attack, firing from as far as 100 yards away and these guys are on a mission to uphold the good name of snipers.
The police are doing everything they can to apprehend the guilty party or parties, but they’re flying on instruments only. Ballistic forensic experts have been able to determine, within hours of each shooting, that the attacks are linked. By examining the bullet or bullet fragments, it can be determined all the bullets were fired from the same gun. Good information to have, no doubt, but all it tells us is that the killer is a serial murderer, striking again and again. It doesn’t tell us who the murderer is.
Each bullet fired by the same gun has identical markings left on it by the gun. The shell casing has marks left on it, too, which can be used to link various shootings together. They’re called ballistic fingerprints, but they’re only useful in convicting the criminal after the criminal has been caught, unless we already have a copy of the ballistic fingerprint on file.
In Maryland and New York, before a new handgun is sold, it must be test-fired and a copy of that gun’s ballistic fingerprint is filed. No state has a ballistic fingerprint requirement for long guns, like the one being used by this killer. If we had such laws, I doubt the body count would have risen to nine. Police would probably have the criminal in custody by now. But that is not the case. Ballistic fingerprinting remains out of reach in most cases, tying the hands of the police, thanks to the effective lobbying of the National Rifle Association.
It gets worse. Half a world away, investigators are combing through wreckage and bits of human bodies, trying to understand the terrorist blast that killed almost 200 people in Bali. Again, the best forensic experts have been brought in and have determined the bomb was constructed with military-grade plastic explosives. Like the police in Virginia and Maryland, they’re flying on instruments only with much potential information deliberately withheld.
For over 20 years, we have had the technical means to trace the origin of explosives. Several European countries require explosives manufacturers to include taggants as an integral part of the explosive.
Taggants are microscopic, color-coded pieces of plastic mixed with explosives during manufacture. After the material is exploded, the taggants are scattered about the blast area and can be used to identify the company of origin and even the specific batch of explosives.
Taggants can be added to dynamite and gunpowder as well, like the gunpowder in the .223 caliber bullets fired by the Washington sniper. That’s right, just like ballistic fingerprinting, taggants are another tool which could significantly aid police, but they are not required in the U.S. because of the criminal-coddling wackos of the NRA and their allies in the explosives industry who don’t want to face hard questions about why so many of their explosives end up in the hands of criminal and terrorists.
Criminals and terrorists the world over can breathe easier knowing John Ashcroft and George Bush will slap any number of people in jail and deprive them of the Constitutional rights, but they will never, never do anything to displease their political patrons in the gun lobby.
Bang bang, baby; you’re dead.