Rifle Possibly Linked To Ut Massacre Up For Sale

The Remington 700 rifle used by former Marine Charles Whitman during his Aug. 1, 1966 reign of terror from the observation deck at the University of Texas in Austin is up on Dallas' Texas Gun Trader website with a starting price tag of $25,000. From a perch on top of the 307-foot clock tower, Whitman shot at students and Austinites for more than 90 minutes with an array of firearms, all told killing 15 people and wounding 32. The serial number on the pictures of the Remington rifle included on the website listing matches the number found on the Austin Police Department report and tampering with the number is a federal offense. According to a Houston-area gunsmith, Remington no longer makes this rifle in 6mm. According to a July 1989 report in the Orlando Sentinel, a Dallas-area collector, Wayne Buxton, was trying to sell the seven guns that Whitman used at the tower. "While this is an interesting historical artifact, it nonetheless reminds us of a tragic event some are still suffering from almost 50 years later," Lavergne said.