The price of a 9mm bullet
-
Tue Jan 11, 2011 3:45 PM EST
My post-it showing the price per 9mm bullet at a Tucson Walmart
In our discussion before last night's show, Lawrence asked me to track down a few pieces of information. One of them... how much each bullet used in the shooting cost. At this point, authorities were telling us that the accused, Jared Lee Loughner, bought bullets at a Tucson Walmart just a few hours before the shooting.
Having researched the particulars of the gun in this case, a Glock 19, I know it uses 9mm bullets. So... I simply called a Tucson, Arizona, Walmart and asked to be transferred to the sporting goods department. I had a very pleasant conversation with an employee of the store who did not seem to suspect why I was asking the costs of this particular product. He told me the prices of the 50-round box, the 100-round box, and the 250-round box.
With a little math, I discovered both the 50-round and 250-round boxes averaged 21¢ a bullet. The 100-round box averaged 23¢. The average between the three - essentially 22¢. That piece of information made an appearance in a few segments of last night's show. As a friend said to me, yesterday, it's a nice literary detail. A literary detail that also provides a little extra perspective on this tragic story.
How many lives?
-
Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:43 PM EST
The folks at Mother Jones have crunched the numbers on a question many have been asking in the wake of Saturday's shooting in Tucson. What if 31 shots had been only 10?
The high-capacity ammunition clip used by the alleged Tucson shooter would have been illegal under 1994's Federal Assault Weapons Ban, legislation that was allowed to expire in 2004. Had he been restricted to "only" 10 bullets, and assuming the same hit ratio, he would have shot six people and perhaps killed one or two, Mother Jones calculates. Instead, 20 people were shot; six of them lost their lives.
More tonight from Rachel on efforts to pass a "gun fix."
No comments:
Post a Comment