Las Vegas Mass Shooting

[LP]

Was interesting to hear an interview on 3AW this morning with a witness regretting he didn't have his gun with him at the time of the shooting - "if everybody had a gun, this wouldn't have happened".

Yeah, what a loon!

Because when someone is firing at you with an automatic weapon from the 32nd floor you can shoot him dead from the ground with a handgun, at night!

Bad luck for all those suckers who wandered over to their hotel room window to find out what was going on!

The more they open their mouth, the bigger morons these gun nuts become!

[LP]

A guitarist who played at the concert noted that he and his crew were armed but returning fire would have worsened the situation by creating confusion.  He says he's now in favour of gun control and is ashamed he was previously against it.

So playing the Devil's advocate,

The NRA will claim the shooter could have been stopped if those rock pussies had pulled a trigger!

[Lods]

Google "US gun shares soar in the wake of....."

You don't even have to bother about the location of the massacre...they're all there. :

[spf]

It's actually not guns - it's the people.

I remember I was at a party once where somebody was complaining about the state of the planet - "the planet is stuffed" they said etc.

I replied that there is really not much wrong with the planet, it's the people that live here. This I think reflects the issues in the United States.

All too often its guns or gun laws that are routinely blamed - actually it's the people that live there and their attitudes to each other. I agree it does not make sense for people to have automatic weapons (for what reason would you need them?) - but the issues they have are deeper than guns.

[cookie2]

Apparently Stephen Paddock's father was on the FBI most wanted list for years and was described as psychopathic with suicidal tendencies. He was involved in a number of bank robberies and was considered to be a very dangerous felon. Apparently also he was a jail breaker when was serving 20 years for his crimes. Well, well - a bit of pedigree there.

[LP]

All too often its guns or gun laws that are routinely blamed - actually it's the people that live there and their attitudes to each other. I agree it does not make sense for people to have automatic weapons (for what reason would you need them?) - but the issues they have are deeper than guns.

Yes no doubt, but the first step is to put some controls in place, like we did when kids were killing themselves in high powered fast cars.

Every little bit helps, but this gun issue in the USA is no little bit!

How is it a right or freedom to own a weapon of mass destruction, when some countries shouldn't even be allowed to have them?

[mateinone]

Of course guns are a problem. When people are upset at anything, have the ability to call on a gun means there will be more deaths.
This one, the only logical way it could be stopped is if the guy could not get these weapons. He might have found an alternative way to cause a devastating attack, but chances are it would have been much less.

My ex-wife just told me a month ago how she has an AR these days. My response was.. "Ok, um I don't think I will drop in on my next trip there". It is just insanity how many people have guns and ridiculous guns. When I lived there one of my stipulations was simply "no guns, not ever".

The problem is that more people in the US believe people should carry guns now than ever before. Nothing is more "un-American" than wanting guns banned.

America will never fix this, Donald Trump is a whore to the NRA, but most politicians in the US are.
There is no way to use logic to argue this with the majority of Americans.
Even Obama who obviously believed there should be gun control had zero power to ever achieve change.


Just as an example
Here are some of the comments from my ex around Guns & Gun Ownership.

Yeah. I know you crap yourself when you think about guns
Precious foreigners

It's been the most empowering thing I've ever done for myself

Learning to shoot well and having that power
And not being scared of it
It's been really good for me

Plus, if shit ever really hits the fan, I have the power to do something
It's the only reason I sleep at night
Most people I know carry every day
Pretty much everyone around me at work

Now they are just some of the chats around gun ownership.
Anyone who is against guns is "scared"
Anyone who owns is in a better position to protect society.

Now how in this instance (with my ex) she is no chance going to be able to keep a calm head in a situation (nor would most people mind you) and just casually pick up and just stop a situation where people are on a rampage. So it is just a lie.

Not only that, but whilst the 2nd amendment protects the right to bare arms, Americans are afraid to ask how relevant that is to today's society. Are arms required to overthrow a tyrannical government (for example).

Meaningful gun control will never come to the US in my opinion.

[kruddler]

Meaningful gun control will never come to the US in my opinion.

Not while the NRA is running the place!

[mateinone]

I agree the NRA is a HUGE reason for the problem, in fact they are the single biggest problem, but their message is 'winning'. I read over 80% support private gun ownership. 50 years ago, it was actually less than 50%.

And at Walmart it appears there is this tasty advert for "Back To School"



Extremely tasteful in relation to the number of school shootings of course.

[thrunthrublu]

This wasn't just a "guy who snapped".  This was a guy who had 17 firearms with him, another 18 and explosives at home and ammonium nitrate (which can be used to make bombs) in his car.  He had to transport his stash to a hotel room and he must have done some prep work to pick his location.  And he had to amass all of this without raising alarm. 

It seems he was wealthy - he had a pilot's licence and owned 2 planes.  He was a retired accountant.

He had no apparent criminal or mental health history.

He must have had a serious beef with someone.  There were some suggestions he had a grievance over some poker game (he regularly played $100 hands of Poker in the casinos.  But surely something more substantial will emerge in the coming weeks.

Under Obama, the FBI took the view that domestic (non-Islamic) terrorism was its main concern, but Trump has no doubt tried to change the focus.  Terrorism is now only something Muslims do.  When right-wingers kill now, they are good people who snapped or who became mentally ill. 

That's not to say that this guy was a right-winger - his family claims he was basically apolitical.  And there was even a suggestion that IS claimed responsibility, saying he had been radicalised 2 months ago.  The mystery deepens.

I'd believe that if he went downstairs and let off. The profile of the guy, is an unlikely match for this heinous crime. It appears to have been planned well in advance. Beware the old millionaire accountant!