Lee Harvey Oswald There is every chance that the Zodiac Killer prepared for his four attacks well in advance of the double murder of David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen in Benicia on December 20th 1968. His four canonical crimes may have been conceived at least three months prior to the first attack on Lake Herman Road, with at least four firearms purchased to complete the task. The Zodiac Killer would then likely discard each weapon immediately after each attack as a precautionary measure. Otherwise, he could have just used the same gun at Lake Herman Road, Blue Rock Springs and Presidio Heights, to spare him the effort of convincing police he was responsible for all these attacks. Statements such as "I am the same man who did in the people in the north bay area" would have been totally unnecessary, had he just left correlating ballistic evidence through each crime scene, or had used the 'shirt piece' method on October 11th 1969 in his earlier attacks, so as to assuredly bind the crime scenes to his communications.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd 1963 in Dallas as his motorcade traveled along Dealey Plaza. The rifle used to kill President Kennedy was purchased by mail-order via an advertisement in the monthly magazine, American Rifleman. This generated widespread debate and congressional hearings for the need to ban mail-order sales of firearms. However, the bill was not passed for another five years. The assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4th 1968 and the murder of Robert F. Kennedy on June 5th 1968, accelerated the desire for more gun control in the United States. The Gun Control Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 22nd 1968, banning mail-order sales of rifles and shotguns and prohibiting most felons, drug users and people found mentally incompetent from buying guns. The Zodiac Killer was fully aware of the approaching clampdown on gun sales, when on November 9th 1969 he stated "my killing tools have been boughten through the mail order outfits before the ban went into efect. Except one & it was bought out of the state". If we believe his claim, then he likely purchased the majority of his weapons in California prior to October 22nd 1968, possibly in anticipation of the carnage he was about inflict on the Bay Area residents.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22nd 1963 in Dallas as his motorcade traveled along Dealey Plaza. The rifle used to kill President Kennedy was purchased by mail-order via an advertisement in the monthly magazine, American Rifleman. This generated widespread debate and congressional hearings for the need to ban mail-order sales of firearms. However, the bill was not passed for another five years. The assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4th 1968 and the murder of Robert F. Kennedy on June 5th 1968, accelerated the desire for more gun control in the United States. The Gun Control Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 22nd 1968, banning mail-order sales of rifles and shotguns and prohibiting most felons, drug users and people found mentally incompetent from buying guns. The Zodiac Killer was fully aware of the approaching clampdown on gun sales, when on November 9th 1969 he stated "my killing tools have been boughten through the mail order outfits before the ban went into efect. Except one & it was bought out of the state". If we believe his claim, then he likely purchased the majority of his weapons in California prior to October 22nd 1968, possibly in anticipation of the carnage he was about inflict on the Bay Area residents.
The impending ban on mail-order gun sales was widely covered in the American Rifleman, a magazine owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). Lee Harvey Oswald had killed President John F. Kennedy with a rifle purchased from a Klein's Sporting Goods advertisement in the February 1963 issue of American Rifleman. There were large sections of the magazine devoted to gun sales through advertisements.
Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer may have been a fisherman, hiker or hunter, with a penchant for killing humans because "it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest", then it's not inconceivable that he purchased his weapons through this magazine before the ban went into effect. This obviously wasn't the only gun magazine on the market, but it was this magazine that triggered the debate on gun control in the first place. The pencil flashlight, he claimed was taped to the barrel of his gun at Lake Herman Road, could have been inspired by an article featured in American Rifleman or similar magazine. The gun magazines released in the months prior to December 20th 1968 might be a valuable resource in learning a little more about the Zodiac Killer.
Bearing in mind the Zodiac Killer may have been a fisherman, hiker or hunter, with a penchant for killing humans because "it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest", then it's not inconceivable that he purchased his weapons through this magazine before the ban went into effect. This obviously wasn't the only gun magazine on the market, but it was this magazine that triggered the debate on gun control in the first place. The pencil flashlight, he claimed was taped to the barrel of his gun at Lake Herman Road, could have been inspired by an article featured in American Rifleman or similar magazine. The gun magazines released in the months prior to December 20th 1968 might be a valuable resource in learning a little more about the Zodiac Killer.