The Guns of Dealey Plaza investigates the numerous sightings and sounds of weapons in and around Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963 as well as bullets and bullet fragments found in Dealey Plaza and experiments that employed 21st century technology to investigate details of the JFK assassination that were unavailable to the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) investigations.  High definition television, high-speed cameras, and 3D laser scans that create accurate virtual worlds are some of the latest technical instruments used to dissect the nature of the shots fired in Dealey Plaza. 

 

This essay will investigate Lee H. Oswald’s infamous 6.5-millimeter Mannlicher-Carcano rifle, a 7.65 Mauser, a Johnson 30.06 rifle, an unknown rifle on the roof of the Depository, the Secret Service’s AR-15 automatic rifle in the presidential backup car, a 7-millimeter Czech automatic rifle, rifles on the triple overpass, 7.65-millimeter rifle shell, the "double bang" sound heard by numerous eyewitnesses, a rifle behind the fence on the grassy knoll, a Remington Fire Ball XP-100 pistol, a Winchester .220 Swift rifle, an unknown military rifle, and a man claiming he was a FBI agent who had a gun under an overcoat on the grassy knoll.  Additionally, a Smith and Wesson snub-nosed .38 pistol found in a paper bag near Dealey Plaza and four 7.35 Mannlicher-Carcano rifles alleged to be peripherally involved in the assassination are examined.

 

 

Table of Contents

 

Introduction   

The Mannlicher-Carcano      

A Rifle on the Sixth Floor     

The Missing Shot      

The Holland/DeRonja, Haag, and Hargather Experiments  

    Holland/DeRonja Experiments         

    Haag Experiments     

    Hargather Experiments         

Single Bullet, Single Man     

Action on the Roof and the Mauser  

The AR-15 Automatic Rifle  

The Johnson Semi-Automatic           

Handguns       

Smuggling Guns        

Bullet Fragments and Shells 

The Sights and Sounds of the Grassy Knoll 

Firecrackers, Backfires, and Echoes 

Timing the Shots       

    The HSCA Jiggle/Blur Analysis       

    Startle Reflex/Perception-Reaction-Time Analysis 

    Timing Shot Intervals Using Zapruder Frames

The Double Bang       

A Possible Scenario  

Afterword                  

Sources and End Notes

 

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Also by John S. Craig