Stephen Hunter: Pretti’s pistol

Just reading the 'extract', the author nails if pretty well. As far as I can see, this is not a 'protest', this is a well-organized, well-(foreign)-funder Insurrection! If a single person can infiltrate the 'Signal' chat and give us suck a detailed report, then the FIB'bers can do it as well, then track down the 'foot soldiers', the organizers, and the financial backers, then use the RICO laws to put the ones that they can in Prison, and sue the 'money men' down to their Fruit-of-the-Looms.

Stephen Hunter is a terrific novelist. I've read probably ten of his twenty novels (and should read the other ten). He's absolutely correct to note that Pretti was armed for a mass killing. The Sig Sauer P320, the US military's most recent choice of a sidearm, is a duty sized pistol with 17 or 21 round double stack magazines available. 9mm is the most common caliber for the 320, which is also available in .40 S&W and .357 Sig. The decedent had at least one loaded spare magazine on his person. If he was reaching for it, it wouldn't have taken him very long to get that pistol with the red dot laser sight into action. He brought to the "protest" the necessary ingredients for a massacre. As Hunter points out, a snub nose revolver in .38 Special or a small Sig P365, although deadly, would run out of ammunition way before the P320. The 320 would be a potential mass murderer's preferred pistol. I don't know what in the heck Pretti was trying to do, but he got what he deserved. Rubber bag time, Alex. You messed up. No second chance. Would you like a mulligan? You don't get one.

Everybody is talking about this guy’s gun. I was looking to buy a SIG P320 a few months ago. I looked at one, and handled it, and liked it. However, I started hearing about, and reading about, a number of unintentional discharges involving P320’s, when no one touched the trigger. A couple of these incidents happened to law enforcement and military types; the guns were holstered when they discharged and injured the people carrying them. SIG settled at least one lawsuit prior to trial. SIG issued a recall on them and supposedly fixed the problem. However, Pretti bought that gun at least 3 years ago, and there’s no indication that he had that gun worked on. Did it discharge unintentionally when tye ICE agent took it from him? The P320 he owned was a custom model; with the optical sight, it would have cost him over $1,500. Hunter’s analysis of Pretti and his actions are spot-on. Hunter is a knowledgeable guy, but I’d disagree with him about the SIG P365. I bought one a couple of weeks ago, and I like it. I don’t think the recoil is objectionable; I put 100 rounds through it. It will probably be my everyday carry piece. With one spare magazine, I don't feel outgunned.

Pretti was a patsy, Just like the vile Ms, Good.

According to his ex-wife Pretti had one automatic pistol when they divorced two years ago. He had gotten a CC permit three years ago. She said he went to protests (George TFloyd) but "probably just shouted". His ex-wife did not give a reason for their divorce but ssid she'd moved out of state and they had not spoken sine the divorce. Altghough Pretti had a CC permit, his family said he did not usually carry. He'd also joined the Renee Good protests and was found to be a member of the activist Signal chat organization. One of their dispatchjers would have sent him to the ICE appehension that was in progress where he involved himself. The arms he carried should be very important to the fed investigation.

A red dot sight doesn't make you into a more skilled shooter, and for the great majority of people, it slows them down dramatically in getting lined up for their first shot. Very helpful device if you practice incessantly for months, but absolutely no panacea. Without lots and lots of practice, what you see when you look thru the red dot is.....absolutely nothing. Then you flail around angling the gun left, right, up and down until finally, you find the dot, then put it on the target. It usually takes two or three extra seconds. In case you wonder about Keano Reeves in the John Wicke movies.....yes, he is actually that good, on a range with live ammo. He has spent years with a top shooting instructor learning to do it, with live ammo. I seriously doubt that Pretti had anything remotely like that skill level. Few are willing to get the professional, expensive training and shoot tens of thousands of rounds or more per year, for years to develop the skills. The ammo cost alone put off most people. How many are willing to spend $5000+ per year on ammo alone? And without professional level instruction, you just keep practicing the WRONG moves.