It’s interesting to me that the shooter’s hometown of Mesquite, NV is only 5 miles away from Bunkerville, NV. Bunkerville (aptly named) is the site of the 2014 Bundy Standoff between Cliven Bundy and law enforcement in a dispute over land rights. Bundy reportedly was backed by a local militia.
There were 23 weapons found in Stephen Paddock’s home in Mesquite, NV.
He moved from Central Florida to the 55-plus retirement community Sun City in Mesquite almost 3 years ago so is Mesquite, NV his ‘hometown’?
He moved around dozens of times so he technically didn’t have one hometown. Two Bundy supporters murdered three people in Las Vegas a few years ago. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I’m wondering if he was one of the 1,500 supporters involved in the standoff.
477 Days. 521 Mass Shootings. Zero Action From Congress.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/02/opinion/editorials/mass-shootings-congress.html
There were probably people in the crowd who legally carried who could not defend themselves against the weapons of war used. No private citizen needs that kind of firepower.
Still no known motive this morning. He had to be suicidal.
The video clips of his brother’s reaction were so very human and raw. Stunned, baffled, appalled.
I certainly don’t know the motive. But I wonder if it had something to do with the shooter being jealous of other people’s capacity for pleasure and joy.
I hope the police will learn something by interviewing the shooter’s companion/housemate/girlfriend. He’d clearly been stockpiling guns for a while and I wonder if she can shed some light as to why that was. Was he depressed? Suffering from mental illness? Recently diagnosed with a serious illness? Dealing with money problems? Angry about something?
Sure there has. 100 gun control proposals have been made and failed since 2011. That’s a huge positive action in the minds of one side. That side would say that they have been tremendously successful at protecting their 2nd amendment rights. Not my side or viewpoint, mind you. Just offering a balanced look.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-many-gun-control-proposals-have-been-offered-since-2011/
The mass shooting was awful. No debating that.
However I would like to remind people that 3 women a day die from domestic violence, often by guns. Do the math.
edited to add where I read the number killed each day
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/domestic-violence-nearly-three-u-s-women-killed-every-day-n745166
@LakeWashington then that begs the question why carry at all?
@labegg, a reason to carry. Nature isn’t always nice and safe.
http://www.khq.com/story/36156771/woman-attacked-by-coyote-while-walking-on-upstate-ny-trail
As far as what might have set Paddock off I wondered if it had anything to do with Marilou Danley . I believe she was his girlfriend and not just a roommate – they had lived together prior to moving into their current house. She was reportedly in the Philippines – perhaps she left him or was in the process of doing so.
At this point we do not know what may have set him off. And we may never know. There is something very wrong with the brain of anyone who would do what he did though. And as a result, its likely that whatever set him off (assuming we can determine what it was) isn’t “rational.” And I put that in quotes because there is nothing rational about what he did. But I think there is a tendency to want to rationalize it on some level.
“He’d clearly been stockpiling guns for a while and I wonder if she can shed some light as to why that was.”
This isn’t uncommon. Lots of folks who own guns stockpile many more than they need. There is a whole subculture of gun fanatics. Some are preppers, Some are white supremacists preparing for a race war. Some are just macho. It might be fringe, but scarily it is a sizable fringe.
Guns overheat. To shoot as rapidly as he did for as long as he did, one has to switch guns. I didn’t know that before this tragedy, but undoubtedly he did.
I suspect the motive was gambling losses. He was a “professional gambler” who played the slots. He had a lot of money before he retired and started being a “professional gambler.” Reportedly he was winning or losing tens of thousands of dollars a night.
Domestic violence is yet another reason why we need gun control laws.
When I was working in the IPV shelter, during intake, we had to document all of the weapons the abuser had. More than one woman I knew was killed by one of those since they never got confiscated.
I will never, ever forget what one woman told me on the phone while she was hiding from her abuser in a closet: “I can outrun a fist but I can’t outrun a bullet.”