Especially bitterly ironic—and it had to be intended as such by Trudeau when he wrote the strip—considering Hinckley used a .22 revolver to nearly kill Reagan.
I had no idea about 25-caliber pistols being used in competition. Pretty much every one I’ve ever heard of is quite tiny, made for deep concealment, and aren’t known for accuracy. Or reliability, durability, or any thing else indicating quality. They can be lethal, jokes about .25 ACP aside, and it was the caliber used by one of Stalin’s executioners during one of the documented largest killings done by one man in history, but most anything works when your victims can’t resist.
Most .22 competition pistols, (and probably all, but you never know) have barrels longer than 100 mm, so that could be another way to distinguish them from the short barrelled, cheap handguns—like the one Hinckley used—that the legislation was designed to prohibit.
To elaborate: in the US it is usually the dentist and his staff who interact with the individual patient at the dental practice, and who in turn interact with the dental prosthetics lab, whether in-house at the same practice or external. The individual patient never sees or hears from the denturist, or at best thinks s/he is another of sundry classes of technician in the back room at the dental practice.
I wonder why details haven’t been released? BATFE seems like they would have had more than enough time by now to figure out where he bought the weapons. Given this FAQ at the BATFE’s own website, it’s likely he purchased the weapons in violation of United States law, and perhaps whichever state’s law too where he made the purchase.
I am wondering if he did a face to face sale in a state, and presented the non FFL holder some fake identification claiming residency in that state? Or the seller may just have not given a shit, and law enforcement is energetically looking for that seller.