Guardsmen fired almost 70 rounds in less than 15 seconds.
First of all, thank you for noting the fact that the shooting was found to be unlawful and Civil cases brought against the Guardsman resulted in an unanimous verdict awarding the victims over half a million dollars in 1970s money.
Secondly, thank you for noting that a Gallup Poll taken immediately after the shootings showed that 58 percent of respondents blamed the students, 11 percent blamed the National Guard and 31 percent expressed no opinion.
Thirdly, thank you for offering the proper background and context showing how this protest was part of a growing trend in the country of peaceful protests which quickly turned violent. There was a history of students all over America quickly escalating out of control and protest turning into riot. This doesn't excuse the shooting, but it does help one understand why a trained solder
might fear for his life while guarding a protest. Context is everything.
Finally, I can about match that rate of fire right now, on my own, with my privately owned semi-auto pistol. I can more than
double that all by myself with my M249. Frankly, as a guardsman I'm embarrassed that a group of soldiers could fire 70 rounds and only kill 4 people. That's piss-poor marksmanship. If you want to kill 4 people then you set the selector to semi and fire 4 single aimed shots.
Point is, that's not a big number at all, but you folks keep citing it like it's a lot. It's really not, and you sound like an infomercial saying something like "
space-aged technology" when you say it.
The shooting was not ordered, or later condoned by the Guardsman's chain of command. This was not state sponsored killing of unarmed civilians. For you to insinuate that it was, and conveniently leave out critical facts, is just silliness. Please act in a way that helps other take you seriously.