At this morning’s  critique of today’s front page, an editor wondered why “Purchase records sought for two guns used in rampage” was among the headlines at the top of A1.

By far, the biggest headline was “Massacre on campus”

A smaller headline atop that said “33 killed at Virginia Tech: Deadliest shooting in U.S. history.”

A third headline under the “Massacre” headline said “Complaints surface on response to 1st round of shooting.”

Then appeared the “Purchase records…” That information appeared as the last sentence of the story’s ninth paragraph. The editor who thought that info was overplayed as a headline,  offered that seeking purchase records is  common in investigating a shooting.

At the time of publication, the shooter’s identity was unknown. Pursuing the purchase records was a means of trying to learn his name, the story noted. But the headline didn’t make that connection clear. And that no doubt left many readers wondering why that aspect was deemed worthy of top notice. And it  might have left  some wondering if some secret anti-gun agenda was at play.