Gun manufactures do nothing to make their guns safer for me. They don’t make guns difficult to fire for people not the owner; they lobby against requirements for trigger locks and safe gun storage; they lobby against available technology that would allow law enforcement to track who bought the bullets used in crimes. They don’t care about gun carnage such as we saw this week because gun carnage increases sales.
Every time we hear that pious garbage “thoughts and prayers” after another massacre, the gun industry hears the clinking of cash as more people buy guns.
I remember a small gun shop in Maryland planning on selling new handguns that had fingerprint trigger locks. They received so many death threats that they cancelled. Why the heck not? Where I live, the vast majority of guns used in a crime were stolen. How great it would be if those guns didn’t work! I’m so sick of the “they’re coming for my guns” paranoia.
Also, the Nevada legislature passed a bill that would have mandated universal background checks, even at gun shows. The governor vetoed it. So, people got it put on the ballot as an initiative and it passed. But the AG says he doesn’t agree with the law and won’t enforce it.
I’d like to say I’m shaking my head but I feel more like I’m banging it against a wall.
I heard a trauma surgeon talking about the difference between being hit by a bullet from a 9mm handgun and weapon of war like those used by this shooter.
It mostly has to do with the velocity of the bullet when it hits the body, and the shock wave it sets off inside the body. He said that when a 9mm round hits the liver, it makes a slice in it. When the rifle round hits the liver it is like, and I quote directly, “dropping a watermelon on the ground.” The liver explodes.
Think about that.
Who’s the crazy one? Me? Or the people who collect these weapons designed specifically for killing humans? I’d say the latter.
@catahoula Sadly, I doubt many will take the time to read the article you attached. This topic is understandably highly charged and emotional, but facts do matter.
Continued talk and focus, media and otherwise, about the bump stock. Seriously, though, is anyone here really surprised to learn that semi-automatic weapons can be converted to automatic weapons? That it is easy? You can find stuff all over the internet, all over youtube on how to convert, people using them, etc.
Buying guns is easy. Converting them to be more efficient killing machines is easy.
@mommajes I read catahoula’s article but found nothing persuasive in it. Yes, many gun deaths are suicides.
This does not change the fact that the US has the highest murder-by-gun rate in the developed world. That we have the highest mass murder rate in the developed world. Our mass murders are so frequent, most of us don’t pay attention if fewer than, say, 5 people die. WE ARE BLASE about mass murder in this country. This is how low we’ve sunk.
“Why hard to believe? It’s not that difficult to buy guns in this country if you have the $$, especially with Nevada’s lax laws.”
Buying the latest batch of 33 guns was one of the easier tasks. Planning, choosing a venue, choosing a specific location, practicing, planning his getaway, deciding when to send his girlfriend away, transporting guns and ammo and chemicals, and maintaining secrecy are no easy matter. Some gun dealer or fellow target shooter must recall the questions he asked.
He had to have someone answer those questions and advise him.
I just hope we don’t end up banning bump stocks, calling it a day there, and then patting ourselves on the back that we’ve done something major to prevent future tragedies.
Exactly, @Sue22! NRA’s small concession in the face of growing focus and anger regarding the current state of gun laws - or lack thereof.
"Buying the latest batch of 33 guns was one of the easier tasks. Planning, choosing a venue, choosing a specific location, practicing, planning his getaway, deciding when to send his girlfriend away, transporting guns and ammo and chemicals, and maintaining secrecy are no easy matter. Some gun dealer or fellow target shooter must recall the questions he asked.
He had to have someone answer those questions and advise him."
@TonyK Which part of this do you find challenging for a grown man with plenty of money and free time? You create a spreadsheet, flowchart or list, you break it down into tasks, you plan and execute your list. Much the way any event is planned. It’s not too different or more complex than planning a wedding or a conference. Individuals do those all the time. The intent and execution of the massacre was evil but the tasks leading up to the event can be broken down into steps and planned. It’s not hard to do things in secrecy if you’re a bit of a loner. The efficiency of a weapon that has been turned into an automatic weapon doesn’t require much accuracy or skill, to essentially strafe a large target. As far as questions, 1. you can find plenty of stuff online and 2. I bet people who deal in weapons like this don’t engage in talking to authorities or others.
Very disgusting to even theoretically contemplate and put any headspace to it but I’ve successfully undertaken the planning and carrying out of more complicated logistics with more moving parts and tasks.
According to wiki:
“An Australian acquaintance and boyfriend of Paddock’s girlfriend’s sister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he met Paddock in the United States and the Philippines. He described Paddock as intelligent and methodical. He alleged Paddock won a lot of money applying algorithms to gambling only on machines, and that he studied gun laws to know his rights to own weapons.”
He’s a psychopath but the description above would lead me to believe he was capable of carrying out the planning.
“He alleged Paddock won a lot of money applying algorithms to gambling only on machines, and that he studied gun laws to know his rights to own weapons.”
None of this suggests Paddock was capable of becoming a sharpshooting sniper who could handle a mission entirely on his own with nothing but time and money.
It’s one thing to plan a carnage, and something completely different to conceal, improvise and execute it among tens of thousands of total strangers. We will soon know how he did all of this and who, if anyone, knew about it or suspected him.
Was he a sharpshooting sniper? He was spraying bullets for ten minutes. 500 bullets a minute for ten minutes, into a crowd. How good did he have to be?
Moreover, becoming a good shooter does not seem, to me, to be inherently suspicious. I see nothing inherently suspicious in learning to shoot better, if you’ve got guns.
"None of this suggests Paddock was capable of becoming a sharpshooting sniper "
Sadly, you don’t need to be a sharpshooting sniper when you have automatic weapons. He wasn’t shooting a single bullet at a time, hence, the carnage. Authorities believe he acted alone so I’m not sure why folks seem to question it. He wouldn’t be the first white guy to carry out a massacre on his own. Ok, enough of this morbid talk for me. If authorities find something, we’ll eventually know.
" I see nothing inherently suspicious in learning to shoot better, if you’ve got guns."
There are shooting ranges everywhere or you just go out into the desert somewhere.
From 400 yards away he had to be a good shooter to kill and injure so many people. Not many civilians shoot at targets that far away. Imagine if he had an accomplice or if he was an expert sniper.