It definitely wasn't solved by the well publicized abuses of Maryland law enforcement, using their records to "check out" owners of the sort of rifle used. See

It definitely wasn't solved by the well publicized abuses of Maryland law enforcement, using their records to "check out" owners of the sort of rifle used. Seeing as the two snipers were from out of state and had bought the rifle Washington State. And even then, with millions of them in civilian hands, they've been sold to us since the '60s, we're talking needle in a haystack. In general, the search for the perpetrators totally screwed up, right down to when the police finally got the correct car and license plate, they refused to release this to the public, it got out by other means and that directly led to their capture. Disclaimer?: I was living in Arlington, Virginia at the time. The FBI woman shot while at a Home Depot? That was my Home Depot.