re: #2 Political Atheist

It certainly could have been lesser rifles, pending evidence not available to us. In any case I think the broader, more vague public perception of the term is at hand. It’s a sniper attack in style, precise equipment to be (hopefully speaking) determined at about he time of arrest. What is also a little vague is how many shooters were in on the shoot. How sure are they it was several? Not one guy that went from hide to hide?

The thing is that for the LA Times to say the rifles were semi-auto without evidence gives anti-gun politicians grist for their mills and more importantly it gives the public a potentially inaccurate detail about the crime. If a newspaper is going to publish details about an unsolved crime, it should endeavor to get the facts right so that the public can be on the lookout for the criminals. False information may allow criminals to elude detection.