FOXNews Reporter Shoots an AR-15

Waitone · October 16, 2002, 08:36 PM

Just saw a piece by Alyson Camerota of FOXNews where she wanted to see how easy it is for someone to shoot an AR-15 in an attempt to determine if the MD shooter is a sniper.

Well, she found a range and and AR-15. First shot without any instruction was a whisker miss on a head shot. The range officer made a few minor changes to her form and #3 was a headshot.

I sent FOXNews an email of thanks and a suggestion to do the same thing for ballistic fingerprinting.

Quote:

[email protected]

I offer my congratulations on your report. As a sports shooter I knew from the beginning it did not take a "sniper" to do what the Maryland shooter did. I just wish FOX would have broadcast the report 3 to 4 days into the shooting. That way we'd all been spared 10+ of bad information.

Now I suggest you take the same approach to the flap (I refuse to use the term "issue") of ballistic fingerprinting. I assure you accuracy of the information now being broadcast is poor. If your sources are gun control advocacy groups, you information is suspect.

I suggest taking that same AR-15 which Ms. Camerota used to a qualified, professional gunsmith. Have the gunsmith demonstrate how easy it is modify the ballistic fingerprint. My prediction is Ms. Camerota will be shown how to:
--change out a barrel,
--polish or scar a chamber,
--change out or modify a firing pin,
--change out or modify an extractor,
--change out or modify an ejector,
--polish a breech face, and
--pick up ejected brass from the floor and substitute that for the brass that came from Ms. Camerota's AR-15.

The easiest way to modify the ballistic fingerprint is to simply shoot the weapon with an abrasive projectile. The gunsmith can indicate how many of what types of rounds it takes to make the change.

FoxNews is the best thing going! Keep up "fair and balanced."

griz · October 16, 2002, 08:47 PM

What a novel concept! Doing research before reporting.

Here’s hoping that it will catch on. Next thing you know instead of hearing "it must be an assault weapon because they fire 223 bullets" we might hear: "even though a case was found at on of the crime scenes, we don’t actually have a clue as to which kind of gun is being used."

Blackhawk · October 16, 2002, 08:59 PM

Saw that.

Excellent report.

She had NEVER fired a gun before, she looked like it, and she's not a "natural" either....

Brandon French · October 16, 2002, 09:09 PM

Now the rifle shoots 233, not 223, nor 5.45. Also showed the AK-74 with a trusty grenade launcher. I hope the killer doesnt have access to a gun ship.

Legionnaire · October 16, 2002, 09:55 PM

Link to the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65868,00.html

DOCSpanky · October 16, 2002, 10:12 PM

Wow an unbiased, tell the truth reporter. I wonder if she's hot????

Lois Lane factor anyone????

DOC

Dangus · October 16, 2002, 10:27 PM

I wrote an approving email to them and told them that if they ever want to do an research into the community and what drives us, they would be welcome to contact me.

UnknownSailor · October 17, 2002, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Wow an unbiased, tell the truth reporter. I wonder if she's hot????

Lois Lane factor anyone????

I look at it this way. Sure, she's attractive. So what? She "wrote" an informative story, that might actually help dispel the deliberate disinformation put out by the other networks.

Bravo, we need more stories like this.

M4A3 · October 17, 2002, 03:21 AM

SWEET!!!

So, what did she say about it. Does any body have any pics?

jason10mm · October 17, 2002, 07:55 AM

The sad thing is that the gun shop guy gave her a HBAR AR with a BIPOD and a huge scope attached for off-hand shooting!!! [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]??? It was so heavy the reporter (a very petite, cute woman) could barely hold it up, much less aim it. If they had given her a lighter rifle with a dot sight the shots would have all been dead center. Gotta wonder what they were thinking with that choice of rifle. LAter.

Oh, forgot to add that when she made her third (and dead center head) shot, she whispers "Dear God", like she just dropped the hammer on a pre-schooler or something

Dave P · October 17, 2002, 07:58 AM

The sad thing is that the gun shop guy gave her a HBAR AR with a BIPOD and a huge scope attached for off-hand shooting!!! [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]???

I agree. Why did the shop guy do this?

Miss Demeanors · October 17, 2002, 08:06 AM

I saw it too and started laughing when she thought the 'recoil' was going to knock her over

I don't think the guy at the shop told her anything, she wanted to see how it accurate a new shooter could be without any instruction. I think the scope was there because it fit with the new anti word "high intensity scope"

I'm glad she did some research but it wasn't exactly in our favor, IMO.

DaiBando · October 17, 2002, 12:28 PM

I agree with Miss Demeanors.

Didn't anyone pick up on the comment that (paraphrased) "anyone could could be deadly WITH THIS TYPE OF GUN".

Someone will replay this session when the discussion comes up about renewing the AW ban.

spacemanspiff · October 17, 2002, 12:34 PM

if the antis get their way, and take away all our fun toys, in fifty years someone will be sharpshooting with a pellet gun, and the report will say "anyone could could be deadly WITH THIS TYPE OF GUN".

anyone could be deadly with scissors. matches. can of compressed air. bad breath.

MitchSchaft · October 17, 2002, 04:35 PM

Interesting. There's a link to the video in the url provided above.

David Park · October 17, 2002, 08:23 PM

"the gun shop guy gave her a HBAR AR with a BIPOD and a huge scope attached"

Well of course. If you ask the guy behind the counter for one of those "evil .223 assault sniper rifles" that's what you'll get.

Waitone · October 17, 2002, 08:32 PM

Let's don't be too rough on the gun shop guy.

Ms. Camerota is in the business of visuals. While she wanted no instruction for the first few shots just to see what would happen, I full suspect she walked in the shop and was shown a wall full of evil ar-15's and she selected the one with most visual impact.

Redlg155 · October 17, 2002, 08:45 PM

What irks me is her intention to show that she can be a expert shot or ..."Sniper" with a couple of minutes training. A rifle at what...40 yards and a paper target. You gotta be kidding. Try it at 300 meters and with a different target.

They should have gotten a "real" sniper, either Military or Police and interviewed them instead if they really wanted to know what a sniper operates and the types of weapons used.

Good SHooting
RED

Justin · October 17, 2002, 08:53 PM

Redlg-

I think you missed the point of the report. The idea was to discredit the murderer by pointing out that he really doesn't posseess any special skills.
My understanding is that the majority of his shots have all been well under 100 yards.
You and I both know that anyone can hit a man-sized target at 100 yards after about 10 minutes of proper instruction.
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Sixpack have thus far been informed that making a 40 yard shot with a rifle is something akin to being a Jedi Knight.
Now they know otherwise.

Whether or not this bodes well for our cause remains to be seen.

Double Naught Spy · October 17, 2002, 09:33 PM

I watched the report several times that day. I really liked her intro that "If the sniper is an expert, then so am I."

She was doing head shots. Her 25 yard head shots would have been just dandy 100 yard body shots, COM.

Redlg155, I think you missed the point. She was only saying that she could duplicate the skills showed thusfar by the sniper and that it didn't take much to do so and she could just about duplicate the results with a gun not that much unlike what it is thought that the shooter has been using. In other words, the guy has not shown himself to be any sort of sniper, such as a guy shooting at a pissant 300 m. The guy she was spoofing certainly hasn't been making any 300 m shots either. Sorry, but 300 m is what the local Army Reservists quality at with open sights, so 300 m isn't exactly 'real' sniper distance either. I realize most police forces don't have their snipers shoot over 300 m and most don't have to shoot more than 100 m. From what I have read, 600-1000 m is good military sniper practice distance.

Redlg155 · October 17, 2002, 10:55 PM

Perhaps I did miss the point, but I believe that she was simplifying the point a bit much.

Quote:

Whether or not this bodes well for our cause remains to be seen.

True...kind of a fine line here. At least folks are realizing the inability and failure of Federal, Local, and State agencies to protect them. Perhaps a wake up call?

We'll see this election.

Good Shooting
RED

MitchSchaft · October 17, 2002, 11:14 PM

Yes, the point of the story was to point out how easy it is to hit a target with a rifle. The point of the story was NOT to point out the skills of a professional sniper.

Miss Demeanors · October 17, 2002, 11:44 PM

She just wanted to see what would happen if Joe Blow walked into a gun shop and bought one of these "evil assault rifles" , how easy would it be for him to be accurate. All she did was hype them all up more, because now they think it's so easy to be a sniper

OTOH, cool AR!

Double Naught Spy · October 18, 2002, 10:00 AM

I took the story in the whole 'wind out of the sails' sort of sexist manner. The sniping profession has generally been almost exclusively male, at least here in the states. Supposed 'experts' keep saying this guy is likely a military, police, or terrorist trained sniper. That conjures up all sorts of images of the great 1000 yard shots, Gilley outfits, tremendous amounts of practice perfecting the art, and the like. Then along comes Alyson who is a middle aged female news reporter with virtually ZERO gun experience (minus her experiences on the local midway at carnivals and fairs). The sort of represents everything that we would traditionally think a sniper isn't. And BOOM, she is shooting with comparable accuracy with less than a couple minutes of instruction and she didn't do bad with ZERO instruction.

Basically, she was demystifying the whole DC sniper persona by denoting that his supposed great skills have not shown themself to be that great.

riverdog · October 18, 2002, 10:22 AM

I see the whole shooting demo thing as that anyone could make those shots with a minimum of training. No big deal, doesn't take a professional sniper.

The continuing issue in MD/DC/VA is the inability of LE to stop this guy even when they are fully mobilized and on 10 second alert. They will almost always arrive time-late. They can't protect the individuals and can only hope to catch this guy before he does it again if he leaves a good witness or good forensic evidence. It seems he has done neither. Hopefully, folks in VA who can pack are packing and somebody can get lucky next time.

October 16, 2002, 09:09 PM	#4
Brandon French Member Join Date: January 8, 2002 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 96	233 Now the rifle shoots 233, not 223, nor 5.45. Also showed the AK-74 with a trusty grenade launcher. I hope the killer doesnt have access to a gun ship. __________________ Progressive “a Liberal that’s embarrassed of being called a Liberal”. Centrists “a Liberal trying to convince you they’re not Liberal” . Moderate “a Liberal who is surrounded by Conservatives and Libertarians”. Socialist “a Liberal that aspires for Tyrannical Control”. Communist “a Liberal that exercises Tyrannical Control”.

October 16, 2002, 09:55 PM	#5
Legionnaire Senior Member Join Date: July 25, 2000 Location: Central TX Posts: 1,503	Link to the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65868,00.html __________________ Cogito, ergo armatus sum.

October 16, 2002, 10:12 PM	#6
DOCSpanky Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 1999 Location: Ashland City, TN Posts: 779	Wow an unbiased, tell the truth reporter. I wonder if she's hot???? Lois Lane factor anyone???? DOC __________________ "Government is not the solution to the problem, Government is the problem!"--Ronald Reagan

October 16, 2002, 10:27 PM	#7
Dangus Senior Member Join Date: July 4, 2000 Location: IA Posts: 1,907	I wrote an approving email to them and told them that if they ever want to do an research into the community and what drives us, they would be welcome to contact me. __________________ Help Fight Cancer I twist the facts until they tell the truth. -Some intellectual sadist "Washington didn't use his right to free speech to defeat the British, he shot them."

October 17, 2002, 03:21 AM	#9
M4A3 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2002 Location: Minnesota (YA-SHURE-YOU-BETCHA) Posts: 620	SWEET!!! So, what did she say about it. Does any body have any pics? __________________ M4A3 Carbine - The worlds most versatile, adaptable, and effective assault rifle. Caliber: 5.56mm NATO Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt Barrel length: 370 mm Rate of fire: 700 - 950 rounds per minute Maximum effective range: 360 m

October 16, 2002, 08:47 PM	#2
griz Senior Member Join Date: July 31, 2000 Location: Middle Peninsula, VA Posts: 1,588	What a novel concept! Doing research before reporting. Here’s hoping that it will catch on. Next thing you know instead of hearing "it must be an assault weapon because they fire 223 bullets" we might hear: "even though a case was found at on of the crime scenes, we don’t actually have a clue as to which kind of gun is being used."

October 16, 2002, 08:59 PM	#3
Blackhawk Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2001 Posts: 5,040	Saw that. Excellent report. She had NEVER fired a gun before, she looked like it, and she's not a "natural" either....

October 17, 2002, 07:55 AM	#10
jason10mm Senior Member Join Date: April 29, 2001 Location: San Antonio, Tx Posts: 230	The sad thing is that the gun shop guy gave her a HBAR AR with a BIPOD and a huge scope attached for off-hand shooting!!! [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]??? It was so heavy the reporter (a very petite, cute woman) could barely hold it up, much less aim it. If they had given her a lighter rifle with a dot sight the shots would have all been dead center. Gotta wonder what they were thinking with that choice of rifle. LAter. Oh, forgot to add that when she made her third (and dead center head) shot, she whispers "Dear God", like she just dropped the hammer on a pre-schooler or something

October 17, 2002, 07:58 AM	#11
Dave P Senior Member Join Date: August 16, 1999 Location: North Florida Posts: 1,346	The sad thing is that the gun shop guy gave her a HBAR AR with a BIPOD and a huge scope attached for off-hand shooting!!! [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]??? I agree. Why did the shop guy do this?

October 17, 2002, 08:06 AM	#12
Miss Demeanors Senior Member Join Date: June 22, 1999 Location: Illannoy Posts: 1,382	I saw it too and started laughing when she thought the 'recoil' was going to knock her over I don't think the guy at the shop told her anything, she wanted to see how it accurate a new shooter could be without any instruction. I think the scope was there because it fit with the new anti word "high intensity scope" I'm glad she did some research but it wasn't exactly in our favor, IMO. __________________ [url="http://www.angelfire.com/il2/imconverted/il2/imconverted/Default.htm"]Sandys' RKBA Homepage (VERY OUTDATED LOL)

October 17, 2002, 12:28 PM	#13
DaiBando Senior Member Join Date: December 9, 2001 Location: Pensacola, FL Posts: 225	I agree with Miss Demeanors. Didn't anyone pick up on the comment that (paraphrased) "anyone could could be deadly WITH THIS TYPE OF GUN". Someone will replay this session when the discussion comes up about renewing the AW ban.

October 17, 2002, 12:34 PM	#14
spacemanspiff Senior Member Join Date: January 16, 2002 Location: alaska Posts: 3,498	if the antis get their way, and take away all our fun toys, in fifty years someone will be sharpshooting with a pellet gun, and the report will say "anyone could could be deadly WITH THIS TYPE OF GUN". anyone could be deadly with scissors. matches. can of compressed air. bad breath. __________________ "Every man alone is sincere; at the entrance of a second person hypocrisy begins." - Ralph Waldo Emerson "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." - Soren Kierkegaard

October 17, 2002, 04:35 PM	#15
MitchSchaft Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2001 Posts: 1,197	Interesting. There's a link to the video in the url provided above.

October 17, 2002, 08:23 PM	#16
David Park Senior Member Join Date: June 29, 2001 Location: Alexandria, VA Posts: 1,224	"the gun shop guy gave her a HBAR AR with a BIPOD and a huge scope attached" Well of course. If you ask the guy behind the counter for one of those "evil .223 assault sniper rifles" that's what you'll get.

October 17, 2002, 08:32 PM	#17
Waitone Senior Member Join Date: March 19, 2000 Posts: 2,904	Let's don't be too rough on the gun shop guy. Ms. Camerota is in the business of visuals. While she wanted no instruction for the first few shots just to see what would happen, I full suspect she walked in the shop and was shown a wall full of evil ar-15's and she selected the one with most visual impact. __________________ "Given a choice between good intentions and human nature, I'll go with human nature every time."--Me, 2002.

October 17, 2002, 08:45 PM	#18
Redlg155 Senior Member Join Date: March 13, 2001 Location: NW Florida Posts: 2,307	What irks me is her intention to show that she can be a expert shot or ..."Sniper" with a couple of minutes training. A rifle at what...40 yards and a paper target. You gotta be kidding. Try it at 300 meters and with a different target. They should have gotten a "real" sniper, either Military or Police and interviewed them instead if they really wanted to know what a sniper operates and the types of weapons used. Good SHooting RED

October 17, 2002, 08:53 PM	#19
Justin Senior Member Join Date: October 24, 2000 Location: Colorado Springs Posts: 1,641	Redlg- I think you missed the point of the report. The idea was to discredit the murderer by pointing out that he really doesn't posseess any special skills. My understanding is that the majority of his shots have all been well under 100 yards. You and I both know that anyone can hit a man-sized target at 100 yards after about 10 minutes of proper instruction. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Sixpack have thus far been informed that making a 40 yard shot with a rifle is something akin to being a Jedi Knight. Now they know otherwise. Whether or not this bodes well for our cause remains to be seen.

October 17, 2002, 09:33 PM	#20
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	I watched the report several times that day. I really liked her intro that "If the sniper is an expert, then so am I." She was doing head shots. Her 25 yard head shots would have been just dandy 100 yard body shots, COM. Redlg155, I think you missed the point. She was only saying that she could duplicate the skills showed thusfar by the sniper and that it didn't take much to do so and she could just about duplicate the results with a gun not that much unlike what it is thought that the shooter has been using. In other words, the guy has not shown himself to be any sort of sniper, such as a guy shooting at a pissant 300 m. The guy she was spoofing certainly hasn't been making any 300 m shots either. Sorry, but 300 m is what the local Army Reservists quality at with open sights, so 300 m isn't exactly 'real' sniper distance either. I realize most police forces don't have their snipers shoot over 300 m and most don't have to shoot more than 100 m. From what I have read, 600-1000 m is good military sniper practice distance. __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

October 17, 2002, 11:14 PM	#22
MitchSchaft Senior Member Join Date: August 19, 2001 Posts: 1,197	Yes, the point of the story was to point out how easy it is to hit a target with a rifle. The point of the story was NOT to point out the skills of a professional sniper.

October 17, 2002, 11:44 PM	#23
Miss Demeanors Senior Member Join Date: June 22, 1999 Location: Illannoy Posts: 1,382	She just wanted to see what would happen if Joe Blow walked into a gun shop and bought one of these "evil assault rifles" , how easy would it be for him to be accurate. All she did was hype them all up more, because now they think it's so easy to be a sniper OTOH, cool AR! __________________ [url="http://www.angelfire.com/il2/imconverted/il2/imconverted/Default.htm"]Sandys' RKBA Homepage (VERY OUTDATED LOL)

October 18, 2002, 10:00 AM	#24
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	I took the story in the whole 'wind out of the sails' sort of sexist manner. The sniping profession has generally been almost exclusively male, at least here in the states. Supposed 'experts' keep saying this guy is likely a military, police, or terrorist trained sniper. That conjures up all sorts of images of the great 1000 yard shots, Gilley outfits, tremendous amounts of practice perfecting the art, and the like. Then along comes Alyson who is a middle aged female news reporter with virtually ZERO gun experience (minus her experiences on the local midway at carnivals and fairs). The sort of represents everything that we would traditionally think a sniper isn't. And BOOM, she is shooting with comparable accuracy with less than a couple minutes of instruction and she didn't do bad with ZERO instruction. Basically, she was demystifying the whole DC sniper persona by denoting that his supposed great skills have not shown themself to be that great. __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

October 18, 2002, 10:22 AM	#25
riverdog Senior Member Join Date: August 11, 2000 Posts: 824	I see the whole shooting demo thing as that anyone could make those shots with a minimum of training. No big deal, doesn't take a professional sniper. The continuing issue in MD/DC/VA is the inability of LE to stop this guy even when they are fully mobilized and on 10 second alert. They will almost always arrive time-late. They can't protect the individuals and can only hope to catch this guy before he does it again if he leaves a good witness or good forensic evidence. It seems he has done neither. Hopefully, folks in VA who can pack are packing and somebody can get lucky next time.