Remember When Yelling Shotgun Was For The Front Seat?

So, as is my usual custom, I visited the local paper in print this morning.  Some interesting stuff and some boring stuff.  But then I get to the back page.  Left hand column, top - In a Page One story Wednesday about the shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, the Journal Courier erroneously reported that the gunman, Aaron Alexis, carried an AR-15.  That information was based on federal law enforcement officials who were relying on initial descriptions from the scene and was included in official internal FBI reports summarizing the shooting.  However, additional investigation by law enforcement concluded that Alexis carried a shotgun, took at least one handgun from an officer at the scene, did not have or use an AR-15.  Now, the question arises on the difference between an automatic rifle and a shotgun, right?  They must be pretty similar if someone confuses a shotgun for an AR-15.  I have never personally seen an AR-15 but I'm pretty sure most people have seen automatic rifles in movies and on tv, correct? And most, I believe, have seen a shotgun or two in those formats as well.  So, just to clarify - a shotgun looks like this:

And an AR-15 looks like this:

Now, to the untrained eye, a gun could look like a gun.  They each have a barrel and a shoulder rest.  They each have a trigger.  And there are other similarities.  Now, in another area of all that is, I would like to reflect on horses and dogs.  Now a horse is a horse, of course, of course, and a dog is a dog.  Both consume food and travel on four legs.  They can run, jump, and mate with other animals of the same species. I won't post pictures because I believe most of you know the difference. Is it possible that a small horse could be confused with a dog?  Possible.  Could a large dog be confused with a horse?  Another possibility. I guess the point I'm trying to make is this - can humans, under pressure and under duress, make a mistake between the two different types of firearms?  Has the media made such a point of the gun debate, that flares up with each new tragedy involving firearms, that people now confuse every firearm with a long barrel as an assault rifle?  That's the question.  And it seems pretty specific to me.  So, either there really was an assault rifle involved and the story is being retold as a cover-up (which I doubt) or someone convinced themselves they saw an assault rifle instead of a shotgun.  At a military installation.  It just doesn't seem like that easy of a mistake to make, even with a crisis situation such as that which took place there.  I have never been involved in a shooting so I cannot, I repeat, cannot place myself as an authority on what a person would, or should experience.  But it does seem like a huge mistake to record, doesn't it?  Senator Dianne Feinstein of California was quick to bring up the debate on assault rifles within a day or two of this tragedy.  So begins the national debate on shotguns.  I guess.  My name is Rueuhy and I approve this blog.