a 14 year old's HUGE weapon cache found

[yesit'sloaded]

Is Kill Zone one of them? That is one of the hardest ones I have played. I have a friend who is into games and we went to the range one day to shoot off my "zombie defense collection" as he calls it. He isn't a big fan of real guns but is thinking about a .22 rifle "just so I can say I own guns" (it's a Mississippi thing that every male over 2 months have at least one gun). He is also one of the few people that I know that I could say that beyond a shadow of a doubt he has his head on straight. I can't say that about many of my non video gaming friends. I also have to give you props for the Stargate reference but am disappointed you didn't mention a zat.

 

[.cheese.]

was it a 9mm pistol, or rifle?

I've heard "Assault rifle" numerous times.... and "pistol" several times.

Either some people are stupid, or lying because there is a HUGE difference.

 

[baz]

was it a 9mm pistol, or rifle?

I've heard "Assault rifle" numerous times.... and "pistol" several times.

Either some people are stupid, or lying because there is a HUGE difference.

Short of a direct quote from someone who actually knows, the best guess is that it is a HP 995. As the proud owner of one, I laugh at the thought of calling it an "assault" rifle, though as someone has pointed out, it was on somebody's list of "assault" weapons.

Nobody's lying. We've just got dolts in the media, and some jerks in LE trying to steal some limelight.

 

[benEzra]

It was a Hi-Point carbine, an inexpensive pistol-caliber carbine with a politically correct 10-round magazine.

 

[.cheese.]

even so.... fact remains... a pistol caliber carbine is not an assault rifle, nor is it a pistol.

Not to mention that an "assault rifle" is by definition capable of full-auto.

Maybe it could be considered an "assault weapon", although the 10 round magazine somewhat smashes that too.

It's a carbine... and calling it any of the above is just plain wrong and misleading at worst.

So... this kid had a bunch of bb guns and a carbine... they're saying they're not even sure that he had a plot.

Worst thing I see here is making "grenades" with water bottles and bb's..... but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't even work as a grenade.... it would just burn up very quickly and the bb's would fall to the ground. That is assuming they had something like smokeless powder in them. I have a hard time believing the kid got his hands on black powder. Even if it were BP, I'm not really sure how well that would work if at all. The gases get produced, but water bottles melt/burn. I know because I've melted them to use the plastic for various projects. They melt at a relatively low temperature. Some gas would be produced, and the bottle would briefly hold it (very briefly) and then burst.... but I'm guessing the BB's would go maybe 20 feet at most.... and not particularly fast. I just don't see it as being a viable weapon.

Intent may have existed, I'm not saying that the kid did nothing wrong. If he intended to shoot up a school... then there's a problem. Regardless of whether the grenades would work, there was intent... and a carbine could be used for a shooting without a doubt.

I'm just sick of the news being more full of BS than fact these days. I'm seriously considering whether there is a viable market for a no-BS news network.... maybe internet based. If I knew that there was a news network that would report on stories only the facts that are known... and not spin things.... I'd subscribe. I have to imagine there are others who would too.

 

[Prince Yamato]

Why are we worried about firearms semantics? Honestly. Why is it that nobody is investigating the kids who bullied the potential shooter? What drove the kid to want to commit that act? Who really gives a crap about the particular gun he was going to shoot the school up with? I want to know WHY. While I obviously agree that teachers should carry (and the rest of the spiel all of us know verbatim), we could probably cut the shootings off at the head if we went after the bullying first. This was the main problem behind Columbine. Everybody got all emotional and nobody did squat. It's not the guns. It's not the video games. Go after the bullies.

 

[shooter94]

We're coming up on an election year. This is classic yellow journalism, designed by Liberals who have the agenda of getting a Clinton into the Whitehouse completing the power struggle.

 

[kurtmax]

A Hi-Point 9mm carbine is considered an 'assault rifle' by the media because it was used at Columbine....

In fact, I think a Walther P22 is considered an 'assault weapon' now that Cho used one at VT.

 

[baz]

Lot's of back and forth in this thread about whether the kid really did anything wrong. And lots of anger -- justified -- at the media for hyping the "weapons cache" and "assault rifle" angle. In a sane world, the focus would be not on the weapons, but on the family dynamics and mental state of the kid. Where's the father in this picture? What's the mom doing buying a firearm for a kid with dark fantasies and who is socially dysfunctional (which I admit is just an opinion based on a superficial reading of the story, but which is offered here to make a point)? We all agree -- here at least, I think -- that it is not the gun that is evil. The gun is just a tool. For some, it is a tool for hunting. For others it is a tool for SD/HD. It can be a tool for sport (cowboy action, trap/skeet, or just plain ol' fun plinking).

What tool was it for this kid?

Since he's still a kid, that's really a question his parents are responsible for, and it it looks to me like they fell down on the job (father's gone, mom doesn't know what to do with a kid like this, gets him whatever he wants hoping it works and it never does, and so forth).

I don't expect the liberal/left to find any fault with the parents in this story. The fault is the evil gun.

 

[MikeB]

father's gone,

Actually the father isn't gone, and was denied a purchase for a .22lr rifle in Dec 2005 according to an article in the local news paper.

Interestingly enough his "videos of the 1999 Columbine attack" is actually a copy of Bowling for Columbine, can we now make the claim that Moore's movie is actually the cause of school shootings?

As is the case in virtually every single of of these types of attacks or potential attacks, bullying is the real cause. Schools are bad and have always been bad at dealing with this. I experienced this myself many years ago, for a couple years I was beat up virtually every school day. I'm talking bruises, split lips, concussions, etc. My parents when they complained where told such things as "well we can't punish the attacker they are from a broken home" and "at least your son doesn't hide out in the bathroom at lunch time, as some others do". Of course I was on the rifle team and had access to guns and knives and what have you and never even thought about using them to attack anyone, I just learned how to fight back with my fists and feet.

 

[Kimber1911_06238]

WFSB channel 3 news in ct reported on this story. no mention that any of the "guns" seized were airsoft, they made it sound as if they were all real.

The media biased against rkba? OF COURSE NOT

 

[baz]

Actually the father isn't gone, and was denied a purchase for a .22lr rifle in Dec 2005 according to an article in the local news paper.

So much for a superficial read of the story, then. What I read focused on the Mom, and I missed any mention of the Dad.

 

[MikeB]

So much for a superficial read of the story, then. What I read focused on the Mom, and I missed any mention of the Dad.

Yeah, most reports are focused on the mother, probably because she's the one who actually purchased the firearms. The father was denied do to a felony conviction. He had plead guilty to manslaughter in 1981 for a drunken driving death. He was sentenced to house arrest for lying about his criminal record when he attempted to buy the .22lr Rifle.

The attorney for the boy has been pointing out that the display of the arsenal is misleading, making statements such as the these quotes from the newspaper:

...

his lawyer, J. David Farrell, stressed that all but one of the weapons prosecutors put on display were pellet guns and air rifles.

...

"They're showing 30 guns on a desk that appear to be handguns and saying this was a Columbine in the making," Farrell said. "That's simply not borne out by the facts."

It's possible that display could actually hurt the prosecutors case, it does seem as though the prosecutor is purposely misleading people. Some of those swords on display are clearly plastic, and most of the air rifles are much closer to toys than actual weapons. And it's odd that they keep referring to a copy of Bowling for Columbine as "videos of the 1999 Columbine attack." Obviously that movie contains footage from the Columbine incident, but really why don't they just come out and say the video is what is is, again it makes it appear they are trying to mislead the public.

Of course really, I'm not sure this is the type of situation that is actually helped by a vigorous prosecution. This kid clearly needs some help however.

 

[TexasRifleman]

It's possible that display could actually hurt the prosecutors case, it does seem as though the prosecutor is purposely misleading people.

I was thinking the same. Does the name Nifong ring any bells?