Apple CEO Tim Cook offered his condolences to the victims and families of the Las Vegas mass shooting:
Our hearts are with the victims in Las Vegas, their families and loved ones who are grieving this morning.
“The staggering toll in the deadliest mass shooting in US history has climbed to more than 50 killed and more than 400 wounded, a law enforcement official said — adding that the shooter killed himself after the rampage,” Yaron Steinbuch reports for The New York Post. “Stephen Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., shot himself in his Mandalay Bay hotel room on the 32nd floor, where he had been staying since Thursday, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said.”
“Police found a cache of 10 rifles in his room, Lombardo said, adding that it was unclear how he managed to keep the weapons from being discovered by housekeeping staff,” Steinbuch reports. “At least 406 people were taken to hospitals after the massacre, Lombardo said in a morning press briefing. Among the killed was an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, whose name was not immediately released. Two on-duty officers also were hurt. One of those has been upgraded from critical to stable condition, officials said… Police have not yet determined a motive in the shootings.”
Read more in the full article here.
“Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a shooting that killed at least 50 people and wounded over 400 in Las Vegas early on Monday, and said the attacker had converted to Islam a few months ago,” Reuters reports.
‘The Las Vegas attack was carried out by a soldier of the Islamic State and he carried it out in response to calls to target states of the coalition,’ the group’s news agency Amaq said in reference to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the group in the Middle East,” Reuters reports. “‘The Las Vegas attacker converted to Islam a few months ago,’ Amaq added.”
“President Donald Trump on Monday called the mass shooting in Las Vegas “an act of pure evil,” and said he would visit Las Vegas on Wednesday to meet with victims’ families and first responders,” Christina Wilkie reports for CNBC. “‘We are praying for you and we are here for you,’ Trump said in a live statement from the White House Diplomatic Room. ‘We ask God to help see you through this very dark period.'”
President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shooting in Las Vegas https://t.co/lR7JbPUHli
— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) October 2, 2017
“Trump also thanked first responders ‘for their courageous efforts and for helping to save the lives of so many. The speed with which they acted is miraculous, and prevented further loss of life. To have found the shooter so quickly, so soon after the first shots were fired… shows what true professionalism is all about,'” Wilkie reports. “The White House said the president is receiving regular briefings on the progress of the investigation. Police have yet to identify a motive for the killings.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: President Trump’s proclamation, verbatim:
Presidential Proclamation Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Las Vegas, Nevada
HONORING THE VICTIMS OF THE TRAGEDY IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
– – – – – – –
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Our Nation is heartbroken. We mourn with all whose loved ones were murdered and injured in last night’s horrible tragedy in Las Vegas, Nevada. As we grieve, we pray that God may provide comfort and relief to all those suffering.
As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless act of violence perpetrated on October 1, 2017, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, October 6, 2017. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.
DONALD J. TRUMP
—
Cook’s tweet:
Our hearts are with the victims in Las Vegas, their families and loved ones who are grieving this morning.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 2, 2017
MacDailyNews Note: Please keep the discussion civil and on-topic. Off-topic posts and ad hominem attacks will be deleted and those who post such comments will be moderated/blocked. Permanent loss of screen name could also result.
that is a lot of people affected by this crazed gunman /men
Tim Cook needs to stop commenting on these events and associating Apple with negative and political things.
Cook: shut up and get back to work on iterating Steve Jobs’s products that you’re riding out.
Absolutely appalling and my heart goes out to everyone. I can’t fathom the sickness of a group that would claim responsibility and the mental instability of those that support them in any way, shape or form. They should be removed from the face of the earth.
Now…about that gun control debate. Oh wait…
The government is going to “control” 300 million guns? They can’t even control legal opioids, much less illegal heroin. “Control” means that only the criminals, who by definition do not follow laws, will have the guns. Massacres like we’ve seen would only increase. Again, fully automatic weapons are already illegal. They are already “controlled.” How’d that work out last night? “Gun control” is an illogical, knee-jerk, emotional response.
There’s a reason why many of these mass shootings happen in schools. They are labeled as “gun free” zones, so the murderer knows they can go there to shoot victims with abandon knowing they’ll encounter only helpless, unprotected, unarmed targets and be able to maximize body count.
Thank God that Felonia von Pantsuit isn’t president on a day like this.
MacDailyNews Note: Please keep the discussion civil and on-topic. Off-topic posts and ad hominem attacks will be deleted and those who post such comments will be moderated/blocked. Permanent loss of screen name could also result.
Hey MDN, when are you going to step up?
did the word “God” offend you?
No, you offend me. You’re going to hell.
What makes you think you speak for me, lowlife?
Why, I wasn’t speaking for you, I was thanking you…while you’re here posting on MDN on a Monday afternoon, thanks AGAIN for the utter defeat of Felonia von Pantsuit last November.
Realist is spot on. Botvinik is the font of off topic bullshit and juvenile attempts at personal insults. The fact that MDN refuses to enforce its own guidelines only confims that they, like the assholes they condone are nothing but second rate clickbate admongers with no valid journalistic merit. Copy paste insult is not news.
MacDailyNews Note: Please keep the discussion civil and on-topic. Off-topic posts and ad hominem attacks will be deleted and those who post such comments will be moderated/blocked. Permanent loss of screen name could also result.
It’s called irony_fail. There’s a lot of it about.
Just because it’s a big problem doesn’t mean you don’t try and make a start, try to limit further access, stop it getting worse. Every member of this audience could have been armed and it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. The guy killed himself anyway so wasn’t concerned at being shot back at, and how on earth would a crowd of people have any clue where the shots were coming from to be able to fire back? You’d just end up with people shooting at each other or firing wildly. Even if they knew exactly where the shooter was, what chance is there that everyone in the crowd would have good enough aim to hit the exact room? You’d have a building full of bullets and many more injured people within.
You cant control it, so you ignore the problem, Fwhatever?! And you stoop to conflating control of opioids with control of guns? Sheer insanity. The two situations are entirely different, or did you shoot up with an Uzi last night to get high?
Please explain to me how your solution of arming everyone and giving up any hope of “control” would have helped in the situation in Las Vegas, or any number of other potential gun violence situations that could occur across this country. I suppose that people should have whipped out their semiautomatics and started shooting at a window a hundred yards away and 32 stories up? No doubt that would have endangered a lot of innocent people and achieved nothing short of a miraculous shot in the dark, even had people known where to aim.
When the bullets start flying in a crowd, how are our legally armed citizens supposed to figure out who to shoot? It is one thing to take a class in gun ownership and go to the firing range. It is another thing, entirely, to react properly in a desperate situation. The vast majority of U.S. citizens just aren’t prepared for it because they do not have military training or experience.
And, in a crowd, how are our police officers supposed to figure out which people are citizens defending themselves with legally carried weapons and who are the perpetrators of the criminality and terrorism?
You can make up all of the “logical reasons” that you want. You can even believe them if it helps you to rationalize your political and social positions and sleep better at night. However, if you think that the rest of us are going to swallow your BS and just give up because gun control cannot possibly work, then you have another think coming.
I am not arguing in support of a knee-jerk solution. But I believe that we can discuss this situation rationally and agree upon a set of steps that will begin to reduce the threat of the millions of unregistered weapons in this country. Given the incredible (and largely uncontrolled) proliferation in weapons over many decades, it will take a while to reverse the trends. And the end result will never be perfect. Some bad people will always manage to gain possession of weapons for nefarious purposes. But we can do our best to make it difficult.
What is your solution, Fwhatever? You spew a lot about what *not* to do. How about enlightening everyone on what you would do, given the opportunity?
It’s already illegal to murder people by shooting them, genius.
Wow. How clearly you are missing the point.
At some point you’re going to have to realize that no self defense on your part is effective if you keep allowing the sales of military grade weapons, violent video games, and tons of drugs in a society that is less empathetic than I can ever remember. Americans seem to have no problem confiscating the driver permits from drunkards. Find a way to screen crazy people from buying automatic guns already. Every other civilized nation has done so, and it has not stopped legitimate hunting and shooting competitions. There is a rational middle ground.
I guess you missed the law passed in 1986 banning the sale of automatic weapons to ordinary citizens?
Guess you also missed assorted criminals like drug dealers, organized crime and other nefarious individuals are also banned from purchasing automatic weapons. Problem is, they still buy them and no law you can create will stop them …
“You cant control it, so you ignore the problem, Fwhatever?!”
I don’t read anywhere where Firsty said “ignore the problem.” That’s erroneous perception on your part and certainly not reality — your BAD.
“And you stoop to conflating control of opioids with control of guns? Sheer insanity.”
What is “sheer insanity” is how the clueless left does not understand urban or rural REALITY outside Hollywood productions, Democratic dogma and theoretical college classroom discussions.
Allow me to educate you, Melvin:
FACT: There are more than 200,000 GUN CONTROL LAWS on the books in the U.S. today.
FACT: There are laws against murder in Chicago and the rest of the U.S. as well as other civilized nations throughout the globe. Certainly not in the Middle East and other rouge areas of the world.
FACT: Automatic weapons have BEEN restricted and NOT AVAILABLE for purchase by U.S. citizens for DECADES.
I challenge you, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Gabbie Giffords, Democrats et al. to craft a gun control bill that will eliminate ALL mass shootings for the rest of time. Then you will have my FULL support.
That impossibility stated — do you realize the ridiculous folly of the gun control debate you and others are at a loss to articulate solutions?
As Firsty correctly pointed out and pay attention: Criminals by definition DO NOT obey laws.
As Firsty correctly pointed out, there are laws against opioid drug use and distribution. Yet the reality on the street in 2017 is crime and death from opioids is at RECORD levels.
FACT: Murder is illegal by law in Chicago and yet deaths, year to year, are at RECORD levels.
Please spare us the useless tired talking points and get REAL …
All you need to do is look at how others have solved it. It boggles the mind how profoundly NRA has influenced almost a third of the American population, and about half of American lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world has figured it out, since it is quite simple. If you make weapons difficult to procure and own, the total number of gun deaths will go down significantly. Even in America, the numbers tell the same story: when you look at data and control for other factors (economy, education), in every state where gun control was stricter, gun deaths went down; when it was relaxed, gun deaths went up. And yes, Chicago is a shining example how other factors can reverse the numbers; gun control laws aren’t the silver bullet, but they work. Just ask New Yorkers (crime rates almost at the lowest point in recorded history).
NRA will continue to fund domestic terrorism (such as Las Vegas event) because they represent businesses that thrive when country is in fear of it. There is really no other way to say it: they are the main sponsors of domestic terrorists.
America is paying an exceptionally high price in human life for defending the right to own weapons. Perhaps one day someone will realise that the price is a bit too high.
“NRA will continue to fund domestic terrorism (such as Las Vegas event) because they represent businesses that thrive when country is in fear of it.”
You’ve lost your mind which is not at all a surprise.
Show me the receipts for the NRA FUNDING the Las Vegas gunman. I’ll gladly turn them over to the ATF and FBI.
“There is really no other way to say it: they are the main sponsors of domestic terrorists.”
No, there are multiple ways to say it that are TRUE absent FALSE Libtard hyperbolism.
The NRA defends the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution from the likes of you that want to restrict the rights of U.S. citizens.
Show us proof that the NRA sponsors domestic terrorists. It does NOT exist. Your most irresponsible statement to date …
You’e dumber than a pile of poop emojis
Argue this.
So far in 2017, according to official statistics, Americans and America have suffered….
273 Mass Shootings
23,512 Gun Injuries
11,652 Killings
and…including suicides…
Over 33,000 Killed by Guns.
The UK, according to your president, is undergoing a huge terrorist threat due to open-border refugee immigration, that is out of control. Yet the averague annual terrorist related death rate has averaged only 7….yes SEVEN…deaths per year since 2010. You are more likely to be killed by your dog – 100/yr than by a terrorist.
If ‘our’ terrorism problem is so frighteningly and terrifyingly in need of being solved, what does that say about the gun problem in the US?
Number of unarmed civilians killed by governments in the 20th century alone:
262 million.
Let that sink in.
ungotcha.
“Massacres like we’ve seen would only increase.”
Oh, just fuck off. EVERY other developed nation has gun death rates way, way below the US. By your reasoning, they should all be way ABOVE the US.
Here is some of what Caleb Keeter, a guitarist for the Josh Abbott Band, and certified right-wing, redneck, country boy said…
““I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life.
Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was.
We actually have members of our crew with CHL licenses and legal firearms on the bus.
They were useless.
We couldn’t touch them for fear police might think that we were part of the massacre and shoot us. A small group (or one man) laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless police officers, desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of fire power.
Enough is enough.
Writing my parents and the love of my life a goodbye last night and a living will because I felt like I wasn’t going to live through the night was enough for me to realize that this is completely and totally out of hand. These rounds were powerful enough that my crew guys just standing in a close proximity of a victim shot by this fucking coward received shrapnel wounds.
We need gun control RIGHT. NOW.
My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn’t realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it.
We are unbelievably fortunate not to be among the number of victims killed or seriously wounded by this maniac.”
“Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was.”
Wrong? About what exactly, Caleb? Certainly emotional and filled with grief as you wrote the account, I get that.
What I don’t get is whether or not Caleb is a gun owner since he mentions the crew is licensed to carry and did nothing for fear of getting shot by police — absolutely ridiculous! That statement betrayed his motives.
Crew on the ground and the shooter is over a 1,000 feet away and barricaded in a room on the 32nd floor, yeah that makes a lot of sense Caleb, not!
“Here is some of what Caleb Keeter, a guitarist for the Josh Abbott Band, and certified right-wing, redneck, country boy said…”
Certified right-wing, redneck –OK stereotype noted, are you SURE? He may play in a country band which means NOTHING. Plenty of musicians in country bands are not 100% conservative, same parallel as not all progressive/pop/rap band members are liberal.
His statement smacks of playing politics and trying to score points off a national tragedy. As despicable as what Hillary, Biden and their ilk mouthed yesterday — no difference …
Caleb Keeter @Calebkeeter
·
19 Dec 2012
@BolandDrummer I can’t help but feel that blaming firearms removes responsibility from the killer. Seems like an easy way out.
….says he used to support one of your arguments against gun control. And now he doesn’t.
What you can’t stomach is when one of your own changes their mind…with good reason in this case.
“What I don’t get is whether or not Caleb is a gun owner since he mentions the crew is licensed to carry and did nothing for fear of getting shot by police — absolutely ridiculous! That statement betrayed his motives.”
No, what is ridiculous is your inability to recognize the common sense shown by band members who didn’t want to become collateral damage in a chaotic situation. And ‘your’ statement shows your motive is to demonize Keeter because he can’t, according to you, be a real 100% conservative since he changed his mind. That’s a Gordian knot extremist rathole you are digging.
“His statement smacks of playing politics and trying to score points off a national tragedy.”
Stunning irony_fail given he was a victim of this tragedy with more right to express his feelings than anyone – especially Cody basement dwellers who politicize criminality with aplomb.
Despicable really.
Cody > ‘cosy’
I can certainly handle and respect sincerity on positions other than my own.
What I can’t handle is shifting positions with a rather dubious and absolutely ridiculous explanation that I suspect is FALSE on the face of it.
When Caleb runs for Congress on the issue of mass shooting control, I’ll change my position. And yes, I can handle it …
Unfortunately gun control laws won’t prevent criminals or the mentally unstable from getting guns (or using other means to kill people). Its simply not grounded in reality to prevent good people the ability to hopefully defend themselves should the need ever arise. Should I ever be faced with a threat I would absolutely want the ability to defend myself, my family, and other innocents around me.
You may think its a far-fetched reality that a good guy can stop a bad guy with a gun, but it does happen. I can’t imagine anyone in a horrific situation to not want the possibility of someone stopping a madman before he reaches your family.
Are you insinuating that gun control laws would keep you from obtaining a weapon to defend yourself? That is nuts!
Gun control is not about “preventing good people the ability to hopefully defend themselves should the need ever arise.” It is about minimizing the migration of huge numbers of firearms to criminals, nut jobs, and terrorists.
To one degree or another, we regulate and control most aspects of our society. Why are firearms considered to be a unique situation? The NRA has a lot to do with crafting that mindset and lobbying for legislation to advance the interests of firearm manufacturers. Face it, there is a lot of money in guns.
“The NRA has a lot to do with crafting that mindset…”
uh, no Melvin, wrong again…the Second Amendment has EVERYTHING to do with “crafting that mindset.” Why are you against the Bill of Rights?
“well regulated militia”, not “any crazed asshole”.
And your point is what, exactly?
You do know “militia” also refers to individuals by definition.
You own four guns, great. What are they?
Please tell me what law we need to pass to prevent a self-described “libtard with four guns” from turning into a “crazed asshole,” hmmm? Waiting …
“To one degree or another, we regulate and control most aspects of our society.”
The Second Amendment expressly forbids infringing on the right to bear arms. Do you not consider “regulate and control” an infringement?
infringe |inˈfrinj|
verb (infringes, infringing, infringed) [ with obj.]
• act so as to limit or undermine (something); encroach on: his legal rights were being infringed.
Why are you against The Bill of Rights?
“Face it, there is a lot of money in guns.”
uh, face it, there is a lot of money in cell phones.
uh, face it, there is a lot of money in computers.
uh, face it, there is a lot of money in picnic furniture.
uh, face it, there is a lot of money in feminine hygiene products….
etc, etc, ad infinitum, ad nauseam..
In Texas I had to attend a class and shooting proficiency test and background check to get my concealed carry license. That level of gun control seems reasonable. What else would you suggest be done? In other places, like Chicago, IL there are more strict guns laws…and look at that mess. Stricter laws just seem to hinder law abiding citizens more than preventing more crime.
In fact is there anywhere with strict gun laws that prevents (or even lessens) gun crime?
Seems to me that there is a sizable industry dedicated to making weapons that can very quickly be modified to fully automatic bullet sprayers. The NRA has definitely gone out of its way to defend that fringe group. The majority of gun owning sportsmen prefer the challenge of marksmanship using nonautomatic weapons. Great hunters don’t mince their prey with a hail of bullets, it makes the taxidermy unnecessarily expensive.
What I don’t get is why Americans think a handgun makes them significantly safer. Sure, one can always dream up a scenario. But unless you’re part of a gang or deal illegal stuff for a living, the probability of being singled out for gun homicide is infinitesimal small. Sadly, in America, the most likely gun event inpublic is a wacko with high powered military guns. Stand in front of a deranged nut and what happens? He is going to take out any threats to himself first. Anyone with training– especially military and law enforcement– will say to take cover and don’t try to be a hero.
Me, if I ever run into a gunman or wild animal in London, I will just call botvinnik. I know he will demonstrate superior gun handling and that’s all it takes to make America better than Anywhere else.
There you go, i am officially a soft target and i have no interest in toting around a weapon. But if i did, who has time for all the safety classes and paperwork? If i was truly paranoid and really wanted to be totally safe, i would carry grenades and have bodyguards carry the shotguns and body armor. When I wasn’t in the armored Bentley.
America IS better than anywhere else.
PS: Your country better find another Winston Churchill, and they better find him fast
“Sadly, in America, the most likely gun event inpublic is a wacko with high powered military guns.”
So WRONG on so many levels.
Although mass shootings have significantly increased the last ten years, statistically they are rare compared to shootings all across the country every day and every night. That 24/7/365 threat is THE most likely gun event in America right now, next week and next year.
Certainly not military style weapons an opinion you pulled out of your arse that are even rarer still and most likely less than one percent.
You want to be a soft target, all I can say is good luck. Two things I never leave home without: My iPhone and I believe you can guess the other. I’d rather be safe, than sorry …
THINGS MORE HEAVILY REGULATED THAN BUYING A GUN IN THE UNITED STATES
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/things-more-heavily-regulated-than-buying-a-gun-in-the-united-states
That would be the entire point of gun control laws.
The NRA and its ditto-heads conflate control with a ban. All the majority of people want is more effective means to keep crazy people from getting their hands on piles of automatic weapons. This guy had over 3 dozen military grade guns. If that isn’t a sign of mental sickness, what is?
“That would be the entire point of gun control laws.”
Wrong! All laws are designed for CRIMINAL control. A gun cannot pick itself off a table and kill the mailman or the pizza delivery guy ringing the doorbell.
Another instant new fake poster today. What makes you think I have an armory? Wrong again …
Nice to read another sane factual post on this topic.
Obviously the fever swamp LEFT is out tour de force and certainly makes for fun reading.
Note to target down voters — it’s my birthday and really WISH I could best Botty on this one thread at least for today. Your help is greatly appreciated and thanks in advance for your down vote. Have a good day … 😎
People think because I own firearms I am a potential murderer.
OK, I will give up my guns if you will amputate your penis because you are a potential rapist and child molester.
Nobody thinks you’re a potential murderer simply because you own guns. If people think you’re a potential murderer it’s because of something else.
Every libtard I have spoken with thinks every firearms owner is dangerous. It doesn’t register that millions of firearms owners are decent, law abiding, and concerned citizens.
If you think that owning a firearm is wrong perhaps you should shouldn’t. Perhaps you are projecting your own evil.
“Every libtard I have spoken with thinks every firearms owner is dangerous.”
Try not to be any more stupid than you have to be. I am a libtard and I own four guns. I know many other libtards and hippies who also own one or several.
In Switzerland every able bodied male in the militia is required to keep his weapon at home in working order. How do you explain how, in Switzerland, with such liberal gun laws violent crime is so low?
Hint, this is a rhetorical question.
“In Switzerland every able bodied male in the militia is required to keep his weapon at home in working order.”
That’s not the full story. Every Swiss male who is currently serving in the militia has an automatic weapon in their home. Laws passed in 2007 prevent most of them from being able to keep ammunition in their home. Currently only about 2000 members of he Swiss militia are permitted to keep military grade ammunition in their homes, the rest need to pick up ammunition from the local armory in the event of an emergency.
Outside of automatic weapons for the militia, Switzerland has stricter gun laws than the USA (though they are lax by European standards). Buying a gun or ammunition requires a permit which requires a background check. All guns must be registered with local authorities and it is illegal to buy ammunition for a gun you do not have registered to your name.
I do not want to ban firearms in the USA. That’s impossible with 350 million guns in circulation. But a system more like Switzerland’s would DEFINITELY go a long way to reducing the rate of random senseless crazy mass shootings.
“But a system more like Switzerland’s would DEFINITELY go a long way to reducing the rate of random senseless crazy mass shootings.”
DEFINITELY, how so?
The Swiss militiaman that has ammo at him (2,000) could waltz out his front door any day of the week and spray people with bullets.
The Swiss militiaman that has to stop for ammo on his way downtown load the auto in the vehicle, get out waltz around and spray people with bullets.
The point of those two examples is parallel construction to the Vegas gunman. All followed ALL LAWS, background checks, legally purchased arms and in a nanosecond can transform from a law abiding citizen into a criminal.
No one and no law can stop it. Not now, not ever …
There are 14,500,000,000 conceal carry licensed citizens in US. This is a fraction of actual gun owners. According to the libtard hypothesis a mass killing should occur every week.
Obviously, not.
Correction 14.5 million. My argument still stands.
Fair enough. The only way to completely make civilization safe is to kill, blind, or neuter everyone except you and me. Though I’m not so sure about me either.
FYI, before the illogical gun-grabbers come out of the woodwork, new fully automatic machine guns are illegal to purchase in the U.S. and have been for over 30 years now (since the 1986 Firearm Owners’ Protection Act) and ownership of such firearms is heavily regulated.
As of 2006, registrations showed over 390,000 machine guns in private hands in the United States. With over 300 million firearms in the U.S., that makes machine guns 0.13% of the total.
I’m very saddened by whats happened.
But it did happen and he did use a gun.
Such a waist.
Before I agree or not, whose waist are we talking about?
First of all, drop the label and disparage “gun-grabber” nonsense. You are using a scare tactic by attempting to conflate reasonable steps towards gun control with de-arming U.S. citizens. That is a transparent and specious tactic that only fools the fools who believe as you do.
There are hundreds of millions of firearms owned by U.S. citizens in this country today. Gun control is about trying to protect the rights of those citizens while making it as difficult as possible for criminals, nut jobs, and terrorists to obtain weapons.
Is that possible? It is hard to tell, because the NRA-backed GOP has a long history of undermining all attempts at gun control, claiming that the efficacy of gun control is unproven. In parallel, the GOP has supported efforts to prevent government-funded study of gun violence and gun control, thus shutting the door on all attempts to gather scientific data in the debate.
Do you get the hypocrisy and self-serving circular logic? Gun control is not proven, so we cannot and should not pursue it. But you cannot study it to determine its merits, so you will never have any proof…
Let’s apply your argument to drunk driving deaths. People still die because of drunk drivers. Should we eliminate the laws against drunk driving? Eliminate the checkpoints? Eliminate the education efforts? Or do we keep pressing forward in an attempt to improve the situation?
By the way, the gunman in Las Vegas could have fired just as many shots with semiautomatic weapons – it just would have taken a bit longer. Do not try to distract with your call of “squirrel!”
Chicago – aka City of Daily Multiple Gun Deaths – has some of the most stringent gun control laws and policies in the USA, genius.
Yes and it even with those laws in place it takes a long time to root out criminals and change a bad culture. You do realize that a law is not an on/off switch, right?
Nice job with your display of irrelevant statistics. What I want to know is why I can’t own my own personal Abrahms M1 tank. My militia would feel much safer and I would promise to halt target practice before 10pm on weekdays. Don’t you trust me?
Offers a moment of silence.
Again, why does TC feel he has to respond publicly to every major killing news story?
Because he’s overcompensating for his feelings of shame after being raised a Baptist in Alabama, but being a homosexual. It’s a low self worth issue, most likely subconscious. He feels compelled to publicly signal his virtue whenever and wherever possible. He’s a classic virtue-signalling social justice warrior. Cook is perpetually trying to fill a hole in his soul.
He thinks he is the president.
…when, in reality, he’s a globalist dick screwing up the greatest company in the history of capitalism.
Maybe the snowflakes should keep up. aapl’s supply chain is globally. Wasn’t for a global supply chain, you’d still be using rotary dial.
BTW: The schools in the tiny blue(Clinton) microcosm were Gen Lee is buried passed state accreditation with flying colors due to very high, ie high test scores. While some (Trump)county and area (Trump)towns school failed accreditation with others barely passing. Very sad, that they won’t be participating in the on going global economy.
The current President thinks that he is the President, too. He merely lacks most of the basic characteristics and abilities for doing the job.
…yeah, putting America first is a real bad habit among those presidents since Ronald Reagan.
The demise of the Plantation Party is imminent. A democrat will never occupy the White House again…ever. That is The Muslim Usurper’s true “legacy.”
The pro forma statements usually expressing “thoughts and prayers” have become essentially a throwaway line. Thoughts and prayers do not save people from a gunman or a flood or from hunger or Cancer. Some brave citizens, EMS, Firefighters and Law Enforcement saved lives today and many great Healthcare Professionals are now the front line in saving lives and mending the broken bodies.
All politics aside, our nation, culture and society has a real problem with gun violence. Just about every day in America there is a multiple or mass shooting or attempt and they have become so common that they do not even lead the news many times. This is not the case in much of the world, but it is an everyday part of American life.
We all know there is no practical way to but the genie back in the bottle- there are more firearms in the country than there are citizens- but there should be some common sense changes to law and policy to lessen the likelihood of these kinds of events. No private citizen needs or should be allowed to keep a functional automatic weapon- period. People who are mentally unstable, battling dependency or depression should also be required to put their legal firearms in a safe locked place until they are well.
As to previous comments about how few automatic weapons exist in the US: it takes only one. 30 years as a Licensed Healthcare Professional and 8 years in the United States Army has shown me what these kinds of weapons can do and how quickly they can do it. Keep your hunting rifles and shotguns, keep your sport shooting weapons, keep your personal protection weapons- but we need to keep weapons of war out of the hands of private citizens.
amen.
FYI, this is a mass shooting. The everyday stuff is technically in that arbitrary category, but is very different (gang violence and domestic disputes). You can count the number of real “mass shootings” on one hand.
If you define “mass shooting” as any incident in which 4 or more people are killed or wounded, there have been 29 US mass shootings in the last 30 days. Hardly countable on one hand. The same day as the Las Vegas event, 3 people were killed and two wounded in Lawrence, Kansas.
See gunviolencearchive.org
For several years, mass shootings have been averaging one a day. I suppose that makes them “everyday stuff.” Not much consolation to the victims and survivors, though.
Oh really, take a look at this chart. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/oct/02/america-mass-shootings-gun-violence
“No private citizen needs or should be allowed to keep a functional automatic weapon- period.”
Been that way for a long time.
Fully automatic machine guns are illegal to purchase in the U.S. and have been for over 30 years now (since the 1986 Firearm Owners’ Protection Act) and ownership of such firearms is heavily regulated.
According to the gospel of conservatism, Fwhatever:
“As of 2006, registrations showed over 390,000 machine guns in private hands in the United States.”
That represents a lot of functional automatic weapons in the hands of U.S. citizens. Been that way for a long time, apparently. Think a little more.
Over 390,000 machine guns in private hands in the United States that never killed anybody, genius.
Jaw dropping and grossly insensitive irony_fail.
Do keep up.
But apparently he had no problem getting one, did he.
Your interpretation of heavily regulated is interesting. Because your most recent murderer of 59 innocent victims got his hands on an arsenal of 42 fully automatic weapons without even raising the suspicions of the gun dealers who enabled his killing spree. But you don’t think anything could be done?
“got his hands on an arsenal of 42 fully automatic weapons”
Have not read that. What is your source?
Cut off the ammo supply chain. Israel did.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State and the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
And how does this shooter fit into a “well regulated militia”?
Militia does NOT APPLY to the Vegas killer using guns according to definition:
mi·li·tia
məˈliSHə
noun
a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency.
a military force that engages in rebel or terrorist activities, typically in opposition to a regular army.
all able-bodied civilians eligible by law for military service.
Got it good citizens? 🇺🇸
The moron brigade, all from this mirning:
#1. “Our grief isn’t enough. We can and must put politics aside, stand up to the NRA, and work together to try to stop this from happening again.” — Hillary Clinton
#2: “Let’s close the close the gun show loophole.” — Sen. Ed Markey (D, Mass.)
#3: “It’s time for Congress to get off its ass and do something.” — Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)
You did it with #1, so do it with #2, #3, etc.: Stop electing illogical, emotional fools.
Even better, also from this morning:
“The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get.” — Hillary Clinton
This absolutely horrible, soulless bitch clearly believes that “silencers” render guns silent. She’s a fscking moron. The U.S. really dodged a bullet, pun intended, when they rejected this hideous, shameless fool.
To Hillary Clinton, “putting politics aside” means immediately identifying political enemies and blaming them for something they didn’t do.
STFU and FOAD, Hillary, you awful, nasty bitch.
Silencers don’t make guns silent, but they might well attenuate the noise from a weapon 32 floors up and a considerable distance away to the point that it would not be noticed while the band continued to play. It could have been several minutes before all the people dropping convinced the rest to take cover. With the origin of the shots less obvious, many fewer might have picked effective cover. So, yes, it is a good thing that these were simply illegal fully-automatic weapons, and not illegally muffled as well.
I’m not sure (apart from the ad-hominem aspect) why you find that observation so offensive.
Likely we find Hillary so offensive precisely because “to Hillary Clinton, ‘putting politics aside’ means immediately identifying political enemies and blaming them for something they didn’t do.”
Using the blood of innocent victims in an attempt to paint your opposition (The Bill of Rights) in a bad light is hideous, shameless, and foolish.
You lost, you dried up whore. Again. FOAD!
Obviously, you don’t know what “apart from the ad hominem aspect” means. Arguing against an assertion of fact just because you don’t like the speaker or her motivation is almost the definition of ad hominem.
A rifle makes just as much or little noise no matter who hears it or talks about it. Do you disagree that a muffled weapon might have given less warning than the very loud actual weapon did?
If Secretary Clinton told you NOT to jump off a bridge, would you do it just to spite her?
Special Olympics Debate Team sophistry…
have another participation trophy.
PS: The velocity of a bullet exceeds the speed of sound…anyone fatally shot by a sniper would never hear the bullet that hit him anyway. I find it more and more difficult to believe you were ever an attorney practicing criminal law.
With C.S. Lewis, I wonder “Whatever are they teaching them in these schools today?” Evidently not logic. Anybody with a third-grade education should not only be able to recognize the comments above as pure ad hominem arguments that have no logical or persuasive force, but that your comment is an absolute non sequitur.
It “does not follow” that just because someone cannot hear the bullet that hits him, he cannot hear a shot that did not hit him and that is warning him to take cover. You no doubt heard the soundtracks on the cellphone videos from last night, just as I did. The sound of automatic gunfire was very loud and motivated most of the crowd (maybe 20,000 less the almost 600 who were killed or injured) to take cover before they were hit. So, that sound may have saved hundreds of lives.
Even if the people who actually were hit did not hear the round that struck them, they did hear hundreds of other rounds warning them to minimize their mortal exposure to the upper floors of the Mandalay Resort. If the rifles had noise-suppressors that caused the sound of gunfire to fade into the background noise from a music festival in progress, the actual victims (and the extra victims) might not have heard anything… not just the round that hit them, but any other round as well.
yeah right, except fully automatic weaponry melts silencers…you forgot that part.
Try running “YouTube full auto suppressed” through your search engine of choice and you can see dozens of videos of people firing fully automatic weapons through a noise suppressor.
Yes, a suppressor plays hob with accuracy, but that doesn’t matter if you are firing at a crowd. It also melts the suppressor eventually, but that doesn’t matter if you have 15 loaded weapons available and you don’t expect to be around to replace the suppressors if they fail after a magazine or two. By that point, the targets will know you are shooting at them anyway.