Phil wrote:
>
> > > (b) changes in technology that
> > > make the use of guns "sexier", there is much more appeal to
> > > shooting up a cafeteria or a house if you can do it at 10
> > > rounds a second;
>
> Strangely, I don't think anyone has used automatic weapons in a
> mass shooting in America. I have often heard people talk about
> recent shootings as if automatic weapons were used, but they
> weren't in any of the shootings this year.
>
> Phil
The only instance since the Prohibition era in which a fully automatic weapon was used in a crime (where someone was caught or convicted) that I can find is the killing of a Mr. Hileman, a suspected drug dealer, by an off duty police offier Waller, in Dayton Ohio. This crime is the basis for the 5th circuit appeals court ruling Searcy v. City of Dayton which held that the Chief Law Enforcement Officer which signs the Form 4 ATF transfer papers for a Class III automatic weapon is not liable for any crimes committed by the transferee, as the CLEO is merely stating that to the best of his/her knowledge, the transferee has not committed any crimes in the past. Officer Waller shot Mr. Hileman accidentally with his MAC-11 machine gun during an episode where Officer Waller was attempting to 'make a buy' while off duty to establish evidence that the person and the residence were drug outlets as part of a volunteer anti-drug program.