The reporter was probably there, but doesn't know what a "revolver" is. I would venture that the reporter things "revolver" is a synonym for any handgun and doesn't know that it is the name for a specific design that does not eject its shell casings and must be manually un/loaded.

And the San Mateo County Times has a readership of somewhere betwen 6 and 9 people. Yes, I am being sarcastic but the two most popular papers in San Mateo are the SF Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News. A reporter would be working for the San Mateo County Times if they aren't good enough to score a job at one of the other bay area papers (SF Chronicle, SJ Mercury, Oakland Tribune and Contra Costa Times). It is a second-string paper with second-string reporters.

Let's say the reporter thought "revolver" was a generic term for a handgun. OK, the reporter is reporting on something they don't know anything about, no news there.

What I'm actually ECSTATIC about is the reporter did NOT use the term "semi-auto!" That term is so over-used and overblown I'm just happy to see it NOT used. (Didn't read the linked article though so I suppose I'm fooling myself.)

What a moron. Either the reporter wasn't there, or they're dumber than a bag of rocks.

Don't give her an inch of slack. She said it was a Smith and Wesson .357 magnum revolver. And she quoted the shooter at length about how she preferred the "magnum", so she didn't mean a .357 SIG.

She didn't get confused and call a semi-auto a revolver. As far as I know only Coonan Arms and Desert Eagle made a semiauto in .357 Magnum.

HAH!!

I read this same article, and sent the following to this "reporter."

KIMBERLY SHRUM grips a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver and aims at a target 25 yards away.

Bang.

A hot shell casing hits the floor...

No, Christine. That's not how a revolver operates. A revolver doesn't eject hot casings, or hot shells -- not shell casings -- after each shot. [Saying "shell casing" is like saying "suitcase bag," or "software program." UGH!] A semi-automatic pistol operates that way, though, like this one:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=5555670&siteId=181&startImage=1

How could you take the time to go to a range, and then make such a fundamental error in your lede? Words mean things, Christine. Did you see anything on that semi-automatic pistol that ejected that hot "shell casing (sic)" revolving? Are the words "fork" and "spoon" interchangeable?

This is the central part of a revolver:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=5555670&siteId=181&startImage=4 pic is from your own story

The cartridges revolve around the spindle as the cylinder rotates.

I don't know what having been wounded has to do with it, but, yes, women who've carried weapons in the war, and are now home are arming themselves. Sarah Brady's hysterical ranting will fall on very deaf ears with these women. They know what being able to defend themselves decisively with a firearm is like, and are not likely to give that up. They have seen with their own eyes that guns don't kill, people do. No more than chlorine bleech kills all by itself. It takes a terrorist to make bleech a deadly weapon. Is Sarah Brady now going to propose banning, or licensing bleech?

DoorHold,

What? The correct term, "semi-auto" is "over-used and overblown?"

How do you do that -- over use the correct term?

I get your point (though I didn't say they used it correctly -- but too often). The MSM inserts that phrase when it isn't necessary; to imply knowledge when it's apparent they have little or none, to make their reporting sound more menacing, redundantly, incorrectly, etc. It's an intentional bias that rankles me no end.