I just don't understand why news reports consistently screw up simple fact checking stuff - here's a fine example from CBS:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57388013/inside-chaotic-life-of-ohio-shooting-suspect/?tag=pop;stories

Here's the bit that makes me just shake my head:

"The gun, a .22 caliber revolver, was noticed as missing after Monday's shootings and fits the description of the pistol that reportedly was used to kill three students and wound two others at Chardon High School, said Henderson, a retired police officer and former Geauga County sheriff. He said he has spoken to the grandfather, Thomas Lane, about the gun.

The suspect's grandfather believes the gun is the same, "because the gun was there the day before, in the barn," said Henderson, 74, who says he's been friends with the boy's family for nearly 50 years.

A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said the gun used in the shooting, a Ruger .22-caliber Mark III target pistol, was bought legally in August 2010 from a gun shop in Mentor, Ohio."



Okay - a .22 Ruger Mark III - pretty unambiguous, right? So, a little Google search, and the first hit is:

http://www.ruger.com/products/markIII/index.html



This is NOT a revolver. (The absence of anything that revolves - like a cylinder - is a dead giveaway.) I know this for certain because I actually own one of these - it's the handgun I've shot the most in the past 10 years - but anyone with a computer and an internet connection could get the correct information in a matter of seconds.

The mind boggles that this sort of blatant error not only gets into the story, but then gets by editors, factcheckers, and so forth. Absolutely pathetic reporting.