I'm confused.
The ABC report says that the Virginia Tech shooter purchased his "clips" (more on this later) from Ebay. Big deal. Ebay will not allow the sale of magazines that hold more than 10 cartridges. The Walther P22 magazine regularly holds 10 .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridges.
Now, on to my confusion ...
ABC also refers to the mgazines as "ammunition clips," then goes on to say that the ammunition was purchased from Ebay through a retail store.
Ebay's policy bans the sale of ammunition. You cannot buy complete ammunition on Ebay. You can buy the cartridge case, or the bullet (projectile), but not the primer or the gunpowder necessary to make ammunition.
ABC News would have you believe, by the continual blending of clip and ammunition to mean the same thing, that the murderer purchased both magazines and ammunition from Ebay.
Ebay monitors any attempt to sell ammunition, or magazines with capacities exceeding 10 rounds, very closely.
I doubt very much he purchased ammunition from Ebay.
For the past few days, I've read of the Virginia Tech shooter buying empty "clips" from Ebay. They are not clips, they are correctly called magazines.
A clip is a stick-like device that holds up to 10 cartridges. It is used to load a magazine or to load cartridges directly into the firearm. The clip is discarded after loading the magazine or firearm.
A magazine is essentially a metal box with a spring inside, that pushes up each cartridge to be fed into the firearm.
I was a journalist for 12 years, so I'm not prattling on without experience in the trade. Journalists have an obligation to have a basic understanding of the topic upon which they write. If they don't have this understanding, inaccuracies and seemingly unfounded allegations can easily result.
Journalists have an obligation to be objective, fair and accurate. It would seem that ABC News has failed the accuracy test. It remains to be seen how objective and fair it will be as the issue of firearms ownership continues.