HORROR AT MANDALAY BAY ROUTE 91 MUSIC FESTIVAL OCTOBER 1, 2017
I have lived a long time, sometimes more years than I would like to say. Of that time I've spent 15 years in Las Vegas, first part time and progressing to full time in 2013. Very honestly, I never dreamed I would see such carnage in my lifetime caused by one person. At this point no one knows what motivated his actions, but the FBI and LV Metro are conducting extensive investigations. At this point, 9:45am on October 2, the death count is 58, possibly 59, with over 515 injuries. ALL CAUSED BY ONE MAN WITH AN ARSENAL OF ASSAULT WEAPONS.
Many gun fans have posted on Facebook and social media with statements like: "The liberals will say it was the guns at fault." To them I say you probably won't agree with me, but my feelings are strong and have been for many years.
Every time there is a shooting tragedy resulting in mass murder and injury, this is the stance so many gun lovers take. You are correct that the gun is an inanimate object, not capable of aiming or shooting by itself. BUT, without access to such weapons of mass destruction that take multiple lives and injure others in the blink of an eye, such devastation would not be possible.
You say what about knives? Could one person with a knife kill nearly 60 people and injure 515 more in the matter of seconds?
I challenge those who take this stance to justify even one reason a private citizen needs one, or in this case an arsenal, of high capacity magazine assault rifles. This is not a case of needing it for defense. This is insanity in my humble opinion.
I appreciate the right of hunters, target shooters and those who wish to defend themselves to obtain appropriate weapons through legal channels. I in no way agree that any private citizen needs military grade assault weaponry.
Will the deaths of 58, possibly more, innocent people and the injuries--some life-threatening-- of over 500 more who were having a good time enjoying a music festival, finally bring some sanity to gun control laws? Did all of the past awful incidents with lesser amount of deaths and injuries do it? No. Because of the attitude that guns don't kill.
If rational laws are passed, the police are not going to come into your home and confiscate your weapons. But, this craziness has to stop somewhere.
Consider this: You, Mr. or Ms. advocate for no restrictions on what kind or how many weapons an individual can buy--YES, YOU, could have been one of the people in the crowd yesterday who was killed or maimed or injured by a madman. What would your answer be then? That is, if you were one of the ones who survived, perhaps with life-changing injuries?
WOULD YOU STILL BELIEVE THERE SHOULD BE NO RESTRICTIONS ON PURCHASE OF HIGH CAPACITY, HIGH SPEED ASSAULT WEAPONS? If you were there at that festival, would you be one of the lucky ones who still had the ability to answer that question?
