Las Vegas, latest, most deadly mass shooting in US history

[Esper]

At least 50 58 people dead, over 400 500 injured. Officially the deadliest shooting since 49 people were killed in Orlando just over a year ago. The shooter (terrorist or "lone wolf" depending on your political stance) is dead and no additional attacks are suspected.

I don't even know what to say or feel that I haven't said or felt in the past whenever we witness an attack like this.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41466116

https://apnews.com/4eeaef2efced4969...led-as-gunman-opens-fire-at-Las-Vegas-concert

 

[EC]

Horrendous. Dude just opened fire from an elevated position like a sniper. Now they just came on and said 58-59 dead, 515 injured. Unbelievable.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

I've heard different reasons why the killer did this. One source said he was an Islam convert, but another source said he had no religious belief nor a criminal record and was in the middle of a divorce, causing him to go berserk.

I was reminded of the saying that "whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," which could mean that the worst has yet to come in Las Vegas. This was truly awful.

 

[string555]

Other than ISIS trying to claim some responsibility for it, it doesn't seem like he had any ties to any hate groups or terrorist groups.

So if the above poster's information is correct that a divorce was involved, I couldn't understand how someone could actually do this in the first place, but over that?

 

[Esper]

I don't think it's helpful to speculate on motives right now so soon after. Lots of misinformation can spread that way.

 

[colours]

I think what scares me the most is that I'm feeling increasingly desensitized the more these mass shootings happen.

I mean, it's really the same routine -- city/state officials give speeches and their condolences, politicians all say stuff like "our prayers are with the families that are affected" -- but, to me, even though I know all those feelings come from the heart, it all feels scripted until there's real action taken. And we all know how gun control discussion has fared so far in this country.

I feel like a horrible person saying this, but... that's genuinely how I feel at this point.

 

[Corrin]

Apparently mass shootings happen all the time but only the noteworthy ones are news, it's really sad that this happens so much now.
But I agree with Angie, real action needs to be done instead of just speeches.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I think what scares me the most is that I'm feeling increasingly desensitized the more these mass shootings happen.

I mean, it's really the same routine -- city/state officials give speeches and their condolences, politicians all say stuff like "our prayers are with the families that are affected" -- but, to me, even though I know all those feelings come from the heart, it all feels scripted until there's real action taken. And we all know how gun control discussion has fared so far in this country.

I feel like a horrible person saying this, but... that's genuinely how I feel at this point.

I don't think anyone should feel horrible about feeling like this but we should feel that our country is horrible because we feel like this.

When I woke up my initial reaction was not "I feel so bad for the victims and their families" but rather "oh...not surprised really". I am 23 and have seen the headline "Deadliest US Shooting" 4 times in the past 5 or so years. That should never happen. We've become so desensitized and used to this headline that our minds cannot formulate what a normal response would be. Of course we are all sad and are sending our deepest thoughts out to the victims and their families, but the way our country is now our minds have just adapted to not be initially shocked by things like this. It's terrible and should never be like this.

Until a change is made we will never end this cycle of deadliest us shooting -----> prayers for the victims ----> talk about but do nothing regarding gun control -----> wait for the next one

 

[EC]

The moment we decided killing children was okay (Columbine, Sandy Hook) that's when we decided to not do a damn thing about gun control and the 2nd amendment. The only thing more worshiped in this country than Jesus is guns.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

The moment we decided killing children was okay (Columbine, Sandy Hook) that's when we decided to not do a damn thing about gun control and the 2nd amendment. The only thing more worshiped in this country than Jesus is guns.

There's even a website whose aim is to only present info that favors guns and rejects gun control, even though both sides bring good points in their reasons behind each.

 

[Hikamaru]

As President Trump says, it's an act of pure evil.

It is so sad of what this world is coming to with all the terrorism and mass attacks like this, all since 9/11 caused the world to start seeing these attacks get more prominent over the years.

It's sad that this latest attack has now overtaken that Orlando gay nightclub shooting as the deadliest mass shooting in the US alone, and it looks like that attacks like this are only going to get worse.

 

[Nah]

I think what scares me the most is that I'm feeling increasingly desensitized the more these mass shootings happen.

I mean, it's really the same routine -- city/state officials give speeches and their condolences, politicians all say stuff like "our prayers are with the families that are affected" -- but, to me, even though I know all those feelings come from the heart, it all feels scripted until there's real action taken. And we all know how gun control discussion has fared so far in this country.

I feel like a horrible person saying this, but... that's genuinely how I feel at this point.

Nah nah, to actually be a horrible person you gotta me and not be scared by it and not feel sad that a lot of people just died.

But, I do wonder how long this sort of thing will keep going on until the response actually ends up being different. How many more people have to die before something happens?

 

[Kanzler]

Is there lack of popular support for gun control or is there too much lobbying/Congress inactive? Gun control is mostly by state yes but are people really convinced that the gun situation in America is at the best possible situation?

 

[Sawsbuck]

Nah nah, to actually be a horrible person you gotta me and not be scared by it and not feel sad that a lot of people just died.

For some reason I don't really feel any emotion towards this shooting either...

 

[colours]

Is there lack of popular support for gun control or is there too much lobbying/Congress inactive? Gun control is mostly by state yes but are people really convinced that the gun situation in America is at the best possible situation?

I remember mentioning this to a few friends but...

as long as the NRA is rich and well, gun control will never realistically be a thing. Lawmakers utter the word "gun control" at their peril lest the NRA quite metaphorically puts a gun to their political careers.

a sad state of affairs that I've come to accept a while ago.

 

[Kanzler]

I remember mentioning this to a few friends but...

as long as the NRA is rich and well, gun control will never realistically be a thing. Lawmakers utter the word "gun control" at their peril lest the NRA quite metaphorically puts a gun to their political careers.

a sad state of affairs that I've come to accept a while ago.

Reading around a bit and apparently not just a majority of Americans, but even most NRA members support universal background checks ... I'm just in shock on how little progress is made on issues that seem to be common sense. If you're a responsible gun owner, you have nothing to be afraid of...

 

[EC]

Well the problem here is this guy passed his background checks, so...

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

Is there lack of popular support for gun control or is there too much lobbying/Congress inactive? Gun control is mostly by state yes but are people really convinced that the gun situation in America is at the best possible situation?

I'm a believer that's there's too much lobbying going on for true chance to occur. I remember doing research on this awhile back and yes, as you said gun control widely varies as you go state by state.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/election-2016-donald-trump-takes-on-gun-control-mass-shootings/

^ From a 2015 article, Trumps standpoint was " he was a staunch advocate of the Second Amendment and that any gun legislation that emerges as a result of mass shootings in the U.S. should be limited to addressing mental health." Of course, considering how Trump is as flip floppy as a pancake, there's no telling what steps may come of this...but my guess is that Congress will stay pat as they always have because of their own self interests rather than appealing the needs of their constituents.

 

[Desert Stream~]

I think what scares me the most is that I'm feeling increasingly desensitized the more these mass shootings happen.

I mean, it's really the same routine -- city/state officials give speeches and their condolences, politicians all say stuff like "our prayers are with the families that are affected" -- but, to me, even though I know all those feelings come from the heart, it all feels scripted until there's real action taken. And we all know how gun control discussion has fared so far in this country.

I feel like a horrible person saying this, but... that's genuinely how I feel at this point.

I feel the same way. Some people in school were talking about it, and I can't see my own face but I'm not sure I reacted at all O_o It's like the only thing that scares me is not being scared.

 

[Aliencommander1245]

I've heard different reasons why the killer did this. One source said he was an Islam convert, but another source said he had no religious belief nor a criminal record and was in the middle of a divorce, causing him to go berserk.

The first source (the islamic convert narrative) was part of the organised disinformation campaign put into place by far right groups (Particularly those organised on 4chan, but not exclusively them as other online spaces have done it to similar degrees) to control the reporting on this. There were attempts to shoulder the blame on the husband of the woman who was a person of interest due to his apparent left wing leanings, as well as attempts to spread misinformation that the perpetrator was a supporter of antifa/member of antifa/the shooting was done in a concerted effort by antifa ect

https://twitter.com/broderick/status/914801273584709632
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatest...-the-las-vegas?utm_term=.hywKrPbQr#.mm5NWamPW
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...he-las-vegas-shooting/?utm_term=.13b7fb48c7d8
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/02/las-vegas-shooting-facebook-google-fake-news-shooter


I'd like to think that eventually something could be done about this, but if Obama's best efforts over his terms amounted to nothing I doubt this problem will be addressed while Trump's inhabiting the office and republicans (continue) to hold majority while being beholden to the NRA