Pink Pistols Say Media's Sniper Reporting Off-Target
By Michael L. Betsch
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 21, 2002

(CNSNews.com) - An activist group that defends the Second Amendment says the establishment media's unfamiliarity with firearms is distorting the Beltway sniper story.

"Much of the reporting on the Beltway killer has contained numerous technical inaccuracies regarding firearms," said David Rostcheck, an activist with the Pink Pistols.

"I realized very quickly that they (the establishment media) were simply making some assumptions that weren't true. They were really misleading people about how they could respond."

In addition to defending the Second Amendment, the Pink Pistols also advocates the "rights of consenting adults to love each other how they wish, however they wish."

"We are dedicated to the legal, safe, and responsible use of firearms for self-defense of the sexual-minority community," says a statement on the group's website, which carries the motto, "Pick on someone your own caliber."

'Not a Sniper'

Rostcheck said it's important to make it clear to the media that the term 'sniper' has been improperly applied to the so-called Beltway sniper. "Killer is the most accurate description," he said.

"When we call the individual a sniper, it's like calling the Sept. 11 hijackers 'airline pilots,'" he said. "It implies a level of skill and training that they don't necessarily have."

"It's not something that you just kind of go out on the weekends and learn to snipe," he said. According to Rostcheck, a sniper is someone who's spent hundreds, even thousands of hours practicing shooting all kinds of different ballistics, as well as techniques for getting into position and leaving quickly without detection.

A true sniper is a very rare breed of shooter, he said, adding that military and police snipers are highly trained, professional individuals who are capable of hitting targets from much greater distances than the Beltway shooter has accomplished.

The Beltway shooter is believed to be positioning himself 100 to 150 yards away from his victims, which is by no means a difficult shot for a trained sniper to make, Rostcheck said.

The so-called Beltway sniper, Rostcheck said, is shooting from a distance that any inexperienced shooter could learn with a half-hour of instruction.

'Assault rifle' myth

Rostcheck said the media has frequently reported - incorrectly - that the killer is using a high-powered assault rifle.

For example, a Lynchburg, Va., ABC News affiliate reported Thursday: "Investigators in the D.C. sniper killings say we should not assume that one specific weapon is being used in these killings, though they believe they are types of automatic assault rifles."

But Rostcheck said it is "highly unlikely" that the killer has access to an actual assault rifle. An authentic assault rifle, he said, is essentially a light machine gun that is capable of automatic fire when the trigger is pulled just once.

Rostcheck said it is difficult for ordinary law-abiding citizens to legally own and possess such fully automatic firearms. Only a few people in each state, he said, are issued a "special license" known as a "transfer tax" from the Internal Revenue Service to own an automatic assault rifle.

It's more likely, Rostcheck said, that the Beltway killer is using a semi-automatic version of the same weapon. He explained that semi-automatic weapons can closely resemble their automatic-fire counterparts, but they are made specifically for the civilian population. Semi-automatic weapons fire one bullet for each trigger pull.

Trick bullets?

Rostcheck also questioned media reports that the killer's bullet of choice has been .223 caliber. He said the killer may be using a different caliber altogether.

"He may be dropping expended ballistic cartridges there to mislead the police," Rostcheck said. "He might have gone to a shooting range, picked up a handful of .223 cartridges, and just put one down every time he takes a shot. It might be a totally different caliber."

Rostcheck said he and his 400 fellow Pink Pistols are encouraging Second Amendment supporters to download and distribute the group's firearms fact sheetto local reporters. It's especially important, he said, because high profile groups such as the National Rifle Association have made a conscious decision to refrain from public comment on what they see is a law enforcement matter.

However, Rostcheck remains encouraged by the proactive efforts made by smaller, local grassroots groups to educate reporters about the firearms and ballistics issues that have made headlines across the nation since the Beltway sniper began his killing spree on Oct. 2.