Las Vegas Massacre

Over 50 dead and near 600 injured. Largest shooting in history.

First of all, a horrifying tragedy.

Second of all, ISIS claimed responsibility for it. Authorities are convinced that is NOT the case for some reason.

Third of all, the shooter's brother was shocked by the news. Had last spoken to his brother months ago. Didn't give any indication that he was even an avid gun collector. He had a safe and a couple handguns, but nothing that would tip off his brother. They weren't very close.

Fourth of all, something about this just stinks. I'm getting the strangest vibe from this. I don't even know how to start a conversation like this and I try to assume the best of every situation, but is it a coincidence there's an NRA bill on the floor right now? Is it a coincidence that there's a law up for vote that would make it easier to obtain certain gun parts? There's something about this that just doesn't feel right beyond the obvious horrifying tragedy.

Fifth of all, there are hundreds donating blood today. A true testament to what we as human beings feel for each other. I'm contemplating leaving work to go, but I've read that the lines are so long that they're asking people to wait for something like that.

 

My mind went where yours went, nothing about this makes sense. 64 year old man with no history of anything even hinting he was capable of something like this gets 10+ guns and opens fire on a crowd at a concert. Something is off here, I can’t come up with a motive other than conspiracy theory ones.

Oh and my cousin was at the concert, he got away and was in like the basement of the Luxor on lockdown after it happened. Got separated from his friends, but luckily they were all safe, scary and tragic.

 

I'm surprised not more people are saying it.

An older gentleman with no formal gun training (not military, not police, not security, etc) gets 10+ long guns up to his hotel room and is competent enough with them to cause this sort of damage... It's so far-fetched. I just have the hardest time wrapping my head around this story.

 

This doesn't make a damn bit of sense to me.

I'm starting to believe this man has been set up. Someone else was in that room firing, had the suspected shooter with him, killed him as a "murder suicide" and fled the scene before cops arrived. A 64 retired millionaire with no experience shooting automatic weapons, no priors, no obvious motive, just up and decides to go on a killing spree? Something doesn't seem right to me at all.

 

I heard about this last night where they reported 2 dead, and was horrified this morning when I read 500+ people were hurt and 50 dead. What the hell is wrong with this world?

I agree this doesn't sound right. I don't understand any of this from motives to the results of this massacre.

This is the kind of event that makes you rethink all the conspiracies we hear about and how evil people planning such a thing could possibly be.

 

I'm not posting this because I agree with the message, but for the video of that actual tragedy. I'm not sure what to do about automatic weapons

 

An excellent point for how we try to classify people who perpetrate attacks like this:

"Stolen from reddit below :

He's not necessarily mentally ill. As in, he may not have any diagnosed psychoses. Many mass shooters become "mentally ill" in order for us to "other" them, so that we don't associate ourselves with them.

We (newspapers, pundits, politicians) don't call "terrorists" mentally ill because we've already othered them. "Terrorism" is essentially synonymous with "Islamic terrorism" in the US, and enough people see that as an othering feature to just assume the Islam caused it. When it's a white person, we need to separate ourselves by calling them "mentally ill."

But that's a fuzzy line defined by the act. Sometimes you have people suffering legitimate problems, but a lot of the time the line is blurred. People become radicalized online, or through various ideologies. They sit in their rage and allow it to ferment. A small sliver of these people then go on to act on it by killing others, but it's difficult to draw an objective line between us and them. "Crazy," "terrorist" (i.e. "Islamic radical" in the current lexicon), or "white supremacist" (Dylan Roof), become comfortable ways of distancing ourselves that require no self-examination as a society.

The vast majority of mentally ill people are peaceful. Calling gunmen "crazy" just exacerbates the stigma mentally ill people already face."

 

Not sure what to do about automatic weapons ? They should be banned.

Oh wait, they already are. Since 1930.

THIS is why I'm against any banning of guns at any level (rifle, pistol, revolver, magazine, 10 rounds, 20 rounds, etc, etc, etc). Criminals can (WILL) still get them. All it does is make the innocent and law-abiding vulnerable.

 

Which one should be banned??





The words on this meme aren't the kindest. Please don't take them as mine. But both are the same gun. A .22 can kill just as much as a .45. Remember that when politicians and media start talking about banning and "common sense gun control."

 

I still get to the point that there's a bill on the line that the NRA wants passed that allows easier acquisition of silencers and other modifiers. The speed with which that news broke just doesn't sit right with me. An old man firing hundreds of rounds into a crowd doesn't sit right with me.

As for gun control my position stays the same: I don't mind stringent laws on obtaining a gun. I truly don't. I have guns and I think the process to get them is still probably too easy. It shouldn't be easy for me to qualify for a gun, but hard for me to qualify to carry the gun if I want to. Those two things don't make sense. A crazy armed person doesn't change my stance on this. If we need to have a fairly comprehensive process to drive a car, the process should be at least as comprehensive to buy a gun. However, the narrative that we should ban guns to me is stupid.

 

@John3:16 , don''t take my comment above to mean we need to do something to ban automatic weapons, I just don't know what to do about any of this.

I'm simply saying I don't know if we should do anything or nothing at all.

 

I don't know the answer either. Do I want kids having guns? No. Do I want people having bombs? No. Do I want to read about another massacre that we all know is coming? No. I don't want to lose rights either (free speech, bear arms, press, etc).
I'm sure this has been going on forever, but it just seems to be too common lately and increasing in #s. Something has to change.

 

I did not expect the age of the gunman as mentioned here... I figured he'd be a disgruntled, disillusioned middle aged or younger man that is unemployed. My question is why anyone would set him up or what point is there to prove?