My head is bloody, but unbowed.

As I was browsing the web this morning searching for deals on the custom rifle I am building, I came across an interesting little story. Apparently, on the H-S Precision 2008 catalog, there is a quote from Lon Horiuchi, claiming that H-S Precision rifles are the winner's of an elite contest to replace the FBI's sniper rifles.

Why does that name sound familiar? It only took a minute (on wikipedia) to remember who Lon Horiuchi was. When Timothy McVeigh was about to destroy the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, he almost cancelled the plan so he instead could focus on the single task of murdering Lon Horiuchi.

But why did Timothy McVeigh want to kill Lon Horiuchi? McVeigh was deeply disturbed by the siege and destruction of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, and wanted to get the government back. Lon Horiuchi had been a sniper positioned outside the compound. However, McVeigh's plan to blow up the Murrah Building in OKC was not the first thing he had done after the Waco debacle. For the five months after the compound was destroyed in Waco, McVeigh worked at gun shows, passing out cards with Lon Horiuchi's name and address and asking people to assassinate him.

Of course, Lon Horiuchi was also (in)famous for his shot at Kevin Harris that killed Vicki Weaver during the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992.

Why then, would H-S precision risk public ire by quoting a man that is so controversal? I think that question answers itself.

I'm in no way a Timothy McVeigh fan, and his actions were atrocious and unethical even for a self-proclaimed revolutionary. But his final words, Invictus, is one of the greatest poems of all time.


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