Why did Oswald go get his revolver?

[Zeon Mason]

If Oswald had a specific purpose in mind when he ordered the rifle, it was probably General Walker. Killing JFK was a crime of opportunity. I doubt the thought even crossed his mind until he read JFK's motorcade was going to pass right in front of his workplace.

So Oswald using a fake alias name he had used in the USSR and listing that name as an alternate for his own real name P.O. Box and mail ordering a rifle using that fake name and listing that P.O. Box as the address to  send the rifle…was because …

A.He was naturally as Stupid as a box of rocks
B.He was aware of how stupid he was acting but he did not care because he was having marriage problems with Marina even before he became fixated on Walker. It was Oswald’s attempt to shock Marina into paying attention to him.
C. He was mentally disturbed from all the way back to his childhood and so it’s not unexpected that he could be this stupid.
D. He was a schizophrenic and Alek Hidell was his other personality.

There, I think that about covers the LN possible reasons for what appears to be incredibly stupid decisions made by Oswald.

Now any CTs still on this forum, please feel free to criticize those above listed reasons and list some alternative possibilities that are more plausible.

[Lance Payette]

So Oswald using a fake alias name he had used in the USSR and listing that name as an alternate for his own real name P.O. Box and mail ordering a rifle using that fake name and listing that P.O. Box as the address to  send the rifle…was because …

A.He was naturally as Stupid as a box of rocks
B.He was aware of how stupid he was acting but he did not care because he was having marriage problems with Marina even before he became fixated on Walker. It was Oswald’s attempt to shock Marina into paying attention to him.
C. He was mentally disturbed from all the way back to his childhood and so it’s not unexpected that he could be this stupid.
D. He was a schizophrenic and Alek Hidell was his other personality.

There, I think that about covers the LN possible reasons for what appears to be incredibly stupid decisions made by Oswald.

Now any CTs still on this forum, please feel free to criticize those above listed reasons and list some alternative possibilities that are more plausible.

All I know is that in Arizona, and I'm sure in Texas, half the ads in the sporting goods classifeid section of the newspaper were for guns. Buying a gun was no more complex than having the cash and meeting the seller at a mutually convenient location. Almost 15 years after the JFKA, I bought a pristine Remington 30-06 with a very nice 4X Weaver scope for $75. I had no idea who the seller was, he had no idea who I was, no questions asked. In the space of 24 hours before the assassination, Oswald could have had his hands on a far more plausible assassination rifle, completely untraceable to him. It would be interesting to look at the classified sections of the Dallas newspapers for the couple of days before the JFKA.

[Zeon Mason]

All I know is that in Arizona, and I'm sure in Texas, half the ads in the sporting goods classifeid section of the newspaper were for guns. Buying a gun was no more complex than having the cash and meeting the seller at a mutually convenient location. Almost 15 years after the JFKA, I bought a pristine Remington 30-06 with a very nice 4X Weaver scope for $75. I had no idea who the seller was, he had no idea who I was, no questions asked. In the space of 24 hours before the assassination, Oswald could have had his hands on a far more plausible assassination rifle, completely untraceable to him. It would be interesting to look at the classified sections of the Dallas newspapers for the couple of days before the JFKA.

Yes this is probably what a reasonably intelligent person who is not under the influence of drugs,and/  or MK ultra hypnosis, would do if he wanted an untraceable rifle.

[John Corbett]

So Oswald using a fake alias name he had used in the USSR and listing that name as an alternate for his own real name P.O. Box and mail ordering a rifle using that fake name and listing that P.O. Box as the address to  send the rifle…was because …

A.He was naturally as Stupid as a box of rocks
B.He was aware of how stupid he was acting but he did not care because he was having marriage problems with Marina even before he became fixated on Walker. It was Oswald’s attempt to shock Marina into paying attention to him.
C. He was mentally disturbed from all the way back to his childhood and so it’s not unexpected that he could be this stupid.
D. He was a schizophrenic and Alek Hidell was his other personality.

There, I think that about covers the LN possible reasons for what appears to be incredibly stupid decisions made by Oswald.

Now any CTs still on this forum, please feel free to criticize those above listed reasons and list some alternative possibilities that are more plausible.

You haven't even begun to scratch the surface for possible reasons Oswald used an alias to order the rifle. It might be a reason neither you nor I have even thought of. Oswald's mind was a lock box which nobody has the key for. It we knew Oswald's reasons for what he did, it might make perfect sense to us or it might make no sense at all. That's why I think it is a futile exercise trying to figure out why Oswald did anything. My focus is on what I know he did. That's a fairly straight forward exercise. I never will understand why some people think it is necessary to figure out why Oswald did something in order to know that he did something.

[John Corbett]

All I know is that in Arizona, and I'm sure in Texas, half the ads in the sporting goods classifeid section of the newspaper were for guns. Buying a gun was no more complex than having the cash and meeting the seller at a mutually convenient location. Almost 15 years after the JFKA, I bought a pristine Remington 30-06 with a very nice 4X Weaver scope for $75. I had no idea who the seller was, he had no idea who I was, no questions asked. In the space of 24 hours before the assassination, Oswald could have had his hands on a far more plausible assassination rifle, completely untraceable to him. It would be interesting to look at the classified sections of the Dallas newspapers for the couple of days before the JFKA.

Since Oswald bought the rifle in March, wouldn't it make more sense to check the ads back then. If Oswald was comparison shopping, that's what he would have looked at. I've always said that when we try to figure out why Oswald did the things he did, we are reduced to guessing because there is no real evidence of that. My guess is that he bought the Carcano because it was cheap and convenient, at least as compared to what other rifles would have been selling for at the time. $21 for the scope and rifle would be about $224 in today's dollars. No an insignificant amount, but within Oswald's means. Mail order purchases was the equivalent of Amazon today. You might get something two weeks later as opposed to the next day, but for somebody like Oswald who didn't drive getting something delivered to his PO box would have been quite convenient.

[John Corbett]

Yes this is probably what a reasonably intelligent person who is not under the influence of drugs,and/  or MK ultra hypnosis, would do if he wanted an untraceable rifle.

Why do you assume Oswald wanted an untraceable rifle?

[Charles Collins]

So Oswald using a fake alias name he had used in the USSR and listing that name as an alternate for his own real name P.O. Box and mail ordering a rifle using that fake name and listing that P.O. Box as the address to  send the rifle…was because …

A.He was naturally as Stupid as a box of rocks
B.He was aware of how stupid he was acting but he did not care because he was having marriage problems with Marina even before he became fixated on Walker. It was Oswald’s attempt to shock Marina into paying attention to him.
C. He was mentally disturbed from all the way back to his childhood and so it’s not unexpected that he could be this stupid.
D. He was a schizophrenic and Alek Hidell was his other personality.

There, I think that about covers the LN possible reasons for what appears to be incredibly stupid decisions made by Oswald.

Now any CTs still on this forum, please feel free to criticize those above listed reasons and list some alternative possibilities that are more plausible.

LHO’s employment at that point in time allowed him to learn some basic professional photograph processing techniques that he then apparently used to create a fake ID or two. LHO apparently used his newly fabricated fake ID name to order two very inexpensive firearms. He ordered the revolver first, on January 27th, 1963, then later he ordered the rifle on March 12, 1963.

Robert Oswald wrote in his book “Lee” that LHO enjoyed trying to “trick” the authorities. It appears to me that LHO was simply enjoying using his fake ID name to try to “trick” the gun sellers (and the shippers) into providing the guns to a fake person. LHO might have also thought that the fake name might make it harder for the authorities to trace the guns to LHO. However I will say that using his own P.O. Box as the shipping address does seem to me to be incredibly stupid.