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Many people are claiming a semi-automatic rifle was not used in the Sandy Hook Massacre? Is this true, was a semi-automatic rifle used in the Sandy Hook massacre?

NBC citing "federal officials, and state officials" the day after the shooting (Dec 15):

"There were actually four handguns recovered inside the school not just two as we were initially told. Four handguns. And, aparently only handguns. [...] We knew that Adam Lanza, the man said to be the gunman here, also had an assault style AR-15 style rifle that he had taken to the school that was in the car he drove there -- his mother's car. But, we've been told by several officials that he left that in the car."

Further, the MSNBC video shows the cops finding a long gun in the trunk of his mother's car loaded.

Sklivvz
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Evan Carroll
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  • It could have been a sport version of an assault rifle. eg in most european countries where war weapons such as assault rifles rifles are banned or strictly controled, there are limited guns (for example which can only fire 5 bullets in a row) for a wider sport use. – Yves Jan 20 '13 at 13:19

1 Answers1

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The Connecticut State Police have just released a statement to settle the matter. They confirm what the media has been reporting since the dust of confusion settled the day after the event:

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)

The Bushmaster XM15 is a semi-automatic rifle based on the AR-15 design that Armalite sold to Colt

jcomeau_ictx
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Ken
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  • Wow, talk about fresh off the press... – Evan Carroll Jan 19 '13 at 03:49
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    For those of us not familiar with guns, is the bushmaster a semi-automatic rifle? – matt_black Jan 19 '13 at 16:13
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    The [Bushmaster XM15](http://www.bushmaster.com/firearms/XM-15.asp) is a [semi-automatic](http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Bushmaster_XM15_E2S_A3_Centerfire_Rifle&i=UF101041804&merchID=4004&r=view&uf=true) assault rifle based on the AR-15 design that Armalite sold to Colt. – RedGrittyBrick Jan 19 '13 at 16:37
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    There is no such thing as "Canta-12", it's Saiga-12 (**Сайга-12** in Cyrillic). – vartec Jan 20 '13 at 15:12
  • @matt_black: I'd say it'll be fair to say it's AR-15 clone, original article talks about *"AR-15 style rifle"*, which is most definitely is. – vartec Jan 20 '13 at 15:21
  • @RedGrittyBrick can you edit in that information to the answer? – Sam I Am Jan 21 '13 at 14:53
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    @Vartec - You can tell they are morons because they refer to the high capacity magazines as clips. – Chad Jan 21 '13 at 16:38
  • @vartec - at least they correctly called it a shotgun and not assault rifle :) – user5341 Jan 21 '13 at 23:55
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    @RedGrittyBrick as it's semi-automatic it isn't an "assault rifle" by definition, but it may be classifiable as an "assault weapon" by those who wish to ban certain types of guns. – jcomeau_ictx Jan 23 '13 at 07:33
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    @Chad, why does that matter if you call it a 'clip'? –  Jan 23 '13 at 14:09
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    @gnarly because a clip is different than a magazine and anyone who makes their living working with weapons knows that. All that banning high capacity clips would do is make ammunition ship in a less secure package. A clip is not usable in a weapon, and anyone who has been detailed for day loading magazines probably prefers loose boxed ammo to clipped ammo anyway – Chad Jan 23 '13 at 14:38
  • Clips provide faster reloading? –  Jan 23 '13 at 15:47
  • @gnarly Depends. For fixed magazine rifles they certainly mean faster loading in the field. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jan 24 '13 at 01:17
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    @Gnarly - http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/01/24/dont-call-a-magazine-a-clip-we-spoke-with-an-ex-seal-about-the-difference-and-why-its-important/ – Chad Jan 25 '13 at 15:07
  • Oh I see, so essentially a clip is used to load a magazine. And the magazine is the part that holds the bullets on the gun so they can be fired. –  Jan 26 '13 at 01:34