while some people are debating on the topic of gun control and its ethic values, I just like to say a few words about how terrible this crime truely is.
I know a lil about sniping of morden warfares from a civillian's point of view, so I'd like to comment a few words. if I make mistakes, John and others can feel free to correct me.
no offense, but this shit is pretty fucked up. the mid-school's policy, the refrainment from outside activity is just not enough. sniper-rifle is a terrible tool, its master a terrible killer. I will use a
M24 Sniper (a modified Remington 700 firing 7.62mm rounds) as an example.
Sniping requires the mastery of many different skills other than marksmanship. In order to graduate, a student will have to successfully pass a variety of tasks, among them the following: unknown distance shooting for time (up to 800m), firing at moving targets during the day (400m-700m) and night (300m-600m), stalking over various terrain against two sniper instructor observers (requiring two shots at the same target undetected) etc etc
In unlimited visibility condition (clear day), a sniper can detect and engage target up to 800 meters, which convert to approximately half a mile. In case you have no idea how long that is, it is about 8 street blocks, the distance from 1st Avenue to 8th Avenue on California Street, two third of the Golden Gate Bridge main span, or over twice of the height of the Empire State Building at New York.
There is nothing more dangerous than a well aimed shot. Giving the vast population and the non-combat situation, anyone could easily become a victim at any moment, and the killers perfectly blend in with the civillians. Like the news said, the killings are random and can happen at a GREAT distance. No one is safe from the attack, no police force can prevent the crimes. And even if the Long-Range-shooter misses the first shot and the intended victim realizes the threat, there is virtually no chance of surviving a second. The pausing between each shot is approximately 1 second.
The target can be your neighbor's son, your uncle, a stranger next to you on the sidewalk or yourself. It can happen the moment that you step out of your door going to work, but it is more likely when you are getting out of Macy's and returning to your car. The resounding blast like a popping shampion bottle will be the last thing you heard. It is just like that, completely unexpected, unseen, and coming out of nowhere. Worse, you die knowing the perpetrator may continuely comittee the same crimes many times over.
I've read and heard many stories, and experienced (not in reality) it many times to come up with one conclusion: the power a sniper rifle grants is tremendous and terrrible. Thus if it falls into the wronghand, the damage will be sickening. You know I am not a person easily moved, but this crime disturbes/disgusts me to no end.
And finally, a word for the sniper, differing from the cowards who act murder
Quote:
It takes a special kind of courage to be alone; to be alone with your thoughts, to be alone with your fears, to be alone with your doubts. This courage is not the superficial brand stimulated by the flow of adrenaline. Neither is it the courage that comes from the fear that others may think one a coward.
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The clearest picture of the courage necessary to be a sniper is found in Hathcock's stalk of a North Vietnamese Army General. The stalk covered 2000 meters of flat ground with nothing more for cover and concealment than grass that was only two feet high. Carlos Hathcock crawled "inches per minute and yards per hour" for two days and three nights to cover a distance that could be walked, by a man at normal speed, in ten minutes. The entire time Hathcock was moving into his FFP, enemy patrols were walking all around him. One NVA soldier even brushed Carlos' leg as he walked past the sniper hiding in the grass. On the morning of his fourth day, without having eaten any food and having had very little water, Carlos finally made it into the right spot. He found himself 800 meters from the target area. At the appropriate time, Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock fired his devastating shot, killing the NVA General. Only after having made the shot, did Hathcock exit his FFP to escape the furious search for the sharpshooter who had seriously damaged the command and control structure of the NVA units operating in the area. A coward could not have accomplished this mission; only an extremely skilled and very brave man could.
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It takes a special kind of person to be able place his own life on the line for the good of his country. We have discussed how some definitions are interchangeable, but the terms "sniper" and "coward" aren't. In condemning the quacks and murderers who have used rifles to hurt others we have besmirched the reputations and honor of courageous men. This is dishonest, sloppy and ultimately harmful to society. Let's not condemn the sniping profession because of a few bad people with guns who were nothing more than good (or just lucky) shooters with criminal -- sometimes demented -- minds. The term "sniper" is reserved for the courageous rifleman who, time and again, risks his life in defense of his country to take that one shot -- that, if successful, will make the difference between victory and defeat.
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[ 10-08-2002, 01:25 AM: Message edited by: 250 ]