• FauxLiving@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The headline is using ‘was’ as a weasel word.

    They know it’ll be click bait because it will be read as:

    “The weapon used is a weapon that is the service weapon of a deputy”, and not:

    “At one point, in the past, the weapon used was a service weapon but isn’t any longer”.

    Him using a service weapon implies that there was a lapse of security on his mother’s part. That’s why it’s being mentioned in the way that it is because, if it were true, it would be outrageous.

    The fact that an adult Florida man was able to access privately owned firearms isn’t news. But making it seem scandalous by implying that he killed people with a weapon issued as the service weapon of an active duty cop gets clicks.

    The shotgun story is based on first hand accounts that I’ve heard from the FSU students that I work with. I’m obviously just a random Internet person, so don’t believe it until you see other sources.