Throughout the internet, including numerous posts on Facebook, you’ll find conspiracy theorists claiming that a Bushmaster was never used in the Newtown shootings. That Adam Lanza went into the school with four handguns, and the Bushmaster AR-15 was left in the car. All of which is bunk, perpetuated to defend the AR-15.
They often post an article which begins, “So they finally had to come out and admit it, now that the Coroner has released some info along with police.” And with it is a link to an NBC video. That video report, though, aired on December 15, the day after the shootings. It apparently aired before the police press conference that morning, when reporters were scrambling to learn anything and got a whole lot of things wrong. But the conspiracy theorists, charging a liberal media coverup (while, ironically, simultaneously citing an NBC news report), take this single video as the Gospel Final Word on Newtown.
It is SO intellectually dishonest. The only conspiracy is from the gun crowd wanting to put out disinformation in order to defend assault weapons.
As for the people who lap up these tales about the supposedly falsely-accused AR-15 rifle: have they considered the difficulty of shooting accurately with a 9mm or 10mm pistol, compared to a rifle? If the principal and school counselor had rushed Lanza when he was only brandishing a pistol, they may have had a chance. But not when he was armed with a Bushmaster. It would certainly not have been easy to shoot so many small targets–and to kill every one of them, often with multiple hits. But a Bushmaster could–and did–do that.
The State Police were prompted to issue this restatement about the weapons used on January 18. It drips with frustration about the false information going around, and refers to previous press conferences when they “clearly identified” the weapons used.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2013** UPDATE **
STATE POLICE IDENTIFY WEAPONS USED IN SANDY HOOK INVESTIGATION;
INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
In previous press conferences, the Connecticut State Police clearly identified all of the weapons seized from the crime scene at Sandy Hook Elementary School. To eliminate any confusion or misinformation, we will again describe and identify the weapons seized at the school crime scene.
Seized inside the school:
#1. Bushmaster .223 caliber– model XM15-E2S rifle with high capacity 30 round clips
#2. Glock 10 mm handgun
#3. Sig-Sauer P226 9mm handgun
Seized from suspect’s car in parking lot:
#4. Izhmash Canta-12 12 gauge Shotgun (seized from car in parking lot)
This case remains under investigation.
I’m against the assault weapons ban. But I’m even more against people believing or perpetuating lies about what happened to 26 innocent victims at Sandy Hook.
