As bad as it was, as unthinkable as it was — 58 killed and nearly 500 injured when a 64-year-old man opened fire from the 32nd floor of a hotel tower into 22,000 attendees at an outdoor concert — it is frightening to contemplate what might have been.
In all the thousands of words trying to capture the enormity of the Sunday night massacre, these buried in a story from today’s paper must give one pause: Clark County Sheriff Joe “Lombardo said he saw evidence Paddock planned to survive his massacre, but refused to elaborate.”
This followed a tally of weaponry and explosives that the gunman had not yet used: ammonium nitrate, 50 pounds of the explosive Tannerite and 1,600 rounds of ammunition in Paddock’s car, as well as 18 30-round magazines of .308 ammunition and 15 40-round magazines of .223 ammunition — that police speculated were for additional violence had he escaped the hotel room.
Instead, as police closed in, the gunman reportedly used his last shot to kill himself.
The bullet holes in the nearby jet fuel tanks give hints as to man’s depravity and intentions.
People keep trying to “understand” what motivated such a vile act of madness. Understanding it would itself be a symptom of madness.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo (R-J pix)
4TH ST8 
I think “understand” is the wrong word. I want to know what made the guy do it. So that knowledge may be used to detect the next one. In fact that guy in Tennessee who was pulled for speeding could well have been the next. So far, he’s refusing to talk.
Along those lines of thought, banning bum stocks would prevent that ONE aspect of the incident, but it would not have stopped it from happening. See that guy from Tennessee had modified semi-auto’s, now fully auto. In fact banning the bump stock very well could have made this incident worse as the rate of fire would have been increased at least ten fold with fully automatic machine guns instead of bump stocks.
So, what could really prevent such an event happening? Consider, in our alluvial plain there are no natural high spots, so the buildings we construct become those and everything around them becomes a target.
Consider the MGM fire. After that and another smaller one a few days later, Clark County building codes were severely changed and those building codes have been adopted the world over (in their majority)
Banning guns and bump stocks would be like banning smoking in casinos after the MGM fire.
If we learn nothing else from this we should learn windows are the weak point in his attack plan. Security glass would have completely and utterly thwarted his plans. Watch and see the reality.
If we fail to restrict sale of the bump stock, then there’s no reason to restrict machine guns in the first place, so that’s the obvious step one. Only loonies think we should all have unlimited access to machine guns. The rest is tougher. Just as with auto accidents, we’ll never stop every mass murder. Better to worry about the scores of people killed every week all around the country than to obsess about the occasional spectacular bloodbath.
Jail certainly isn’t the answer. We have the highest incarceration rate in the OECD and the close to the highest murder rate as well (Estonia, Turkey, and Mexico beat us out on that one). Although Conservatives are good at saying that gun control isn’t the answer, they don’t seem to have one themselves. It amazes how we sheep are content with our third world murder rates. I suppose as long as it’s someone else being murdered, it’s not so bad.
What utter tripe.
You modern liberals don’t have the slightest idea what it means to be liberal, you are are so blind to reality you wouldn’t recognize it if it bit you on your ass.
My daughter is in Europe attending college for a semester study abroad program. Her text awoke me in the early mourning hours of Monday stating she heard about the shooting and just wanted to make sure I was okay. I later learned of friends who were at the concert and the horror that has changed their lives.
The students have a blog on which they chronicle their thoughts, feelings, travels, adventures…This weekend they are preparing to travel to the concentration camps in Poland. Below is a letter my daughter penned about her thoughts on the tragedy in Vegas and her upcoming trip. It came me tremendous comfort, and I offer it to any who may be suffering.
Since the beginning of our study abroad experience, the Poland trip sat dutifully in its slot on the calendar, seeming a world away. Can anyone even attempt to count the amazing experiences that have happened between now and the beginning of it all? We’ve travelled to Paris, Prague, Budapest, Salzburg, Dorfgastein, Berlin, and many other exotic destinations, yet we face the next chapter with intimately different circumstances. On Sunday, October 1st, fifty-nine individuals lost their lives in an act of senseless violence, an act which no one will ever be able to fully comprehend. Fifty-nine people journeyed out into the world in the spirit of frivolity, never to return to their families. Being born and raised in Las Vegas, I’ve stood on the spot that will forever come to be associated with this tragedy. Many of my friends attended the festival, friends that I never dreamed would find themselves in such a narrative. “Words cannot express this tragedy” is not offered as a cliché aphorism, but as a fact. No one among us can claim understanding of why evil pervades the world in the form of mass shootings, bombings, or the Shoah. I do not ask for one.
In preparation for Auschwitz, Dr. Rix introduced us to the concept of “bearing witness,” which can be summarized as a metaphorical moment of silence. Attempting to offer any explanation can never do adequate justice to that which is not understandable. Rather, bearing witness acknowledges suffering. The sentiment is appropriate both for Poland and for Las Vegas. Sadly, we are only human. The only intelligible reality for us is that humanity. Acknowledging the suffering of fellow members of our condition serves as the only respectful course of action for our limited power; apart from the physical relief of first responders and heroes alike. It’s amazing to me how interconnected the world is. Even though I’m the only student who calls Vegas home, multiple other students knew someone, whether through friends or family, that was at that festival. Even those with no connection to the city poured out their hearts to us who did, with nothing but love, comfort, and encouragement. Everyone can bear witness to suffering in the human condition, while none can explain it away.
In the Bible, God attends to the misfortunes of his people. In Exodus, “the Lord said, ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.’” (4:7). To paraphrase Dr. Rix again, God meets us at our worst possible suffering. We are not privy to why evil exists in the world at all, and why suffering inevitably worms its way into the lives of every human on earth, but is it not comforting to have a God who walks through the storm with us? Great adversity invites God closer to us, through a deepening of our faith in his transcendence.
The students of Fall Euro 2017 bear witness to the suffering of humanity, in all forms and in all places. We look to God to meet us individually, in our own forms of understanding. As we embark on this journey to Poland, we look to God for peace as we wrestle not only with the anguish of the past, but with all the misery in the present and future as well. Our hearts are with those suffering in Las Vegas, and we pray that God will continue to meet all of us and all of humanity in the dark places where we need him most.
Tannerite is ammonium nitrate — and ammonium perchlorate. I think they’re trying to double down on the discovery. I don’t think he intended to escape. He had time to leave the room before the police got there, as calculating as he was. He wasn’t clueless, but calculating. Everything was in his name I think he knew how it would end and killed himself before Metro breached the room. I think he intended on hitting the car and causing an explosion, as well as the fuel tanks. Metro didn’t say if the Tannerite type components had been mixed or not. His intention of attempting to purchase tracer rounds in Arizona shows he didn’t worry about being discovered and escaping. If he had gotten the tracers, he would have been breached a lot faster, giving up his position. Maybe he met up with a Muslim terror group while in the Philippines. Trace his money there.
Why The Vegas Shooting Happened, and Why Men Keep Doing This
https://byrslf.co/thoughts-on-the-vegas-shooting-14af397cee2c
Worth a read.
“What utter tripe. You modern liberals don’t have the slightest idea what it means to be liberal, you are are so blind to reality you wouldn’t recognize it if it bit you on your ass.”
Brilliant argument, Steve. Play your cards right this year, and they’ll promote you to the third grade!
You insist your crap is solid and sourced…..it’s nothing but cherry picked bullshit.
And poorly picked bullshit at that.
Then don’t reply to me and I’ll do the same.
Proving, yet again, Rincon has zero interest in fact or discussion.
From (of all places) The Washington Post Opinion Section (Perhaps there is some hope for liberalism)
I used to think gun control was the answer. My research told me otherwise.
By Leah Libresco
“Before I started researching gun deaths, gun-control policy used to frustrate me. I wished the National Rifle Association would stop blocking common-sense gun-control reforms such as banning assault weapons, restricting silencers, shrinking magazine sizes and all the other measures that could make guns less deadly.
Then, my colleagues and I at FiveThirtyEight spent three months analyzing all 33,000 lives ended by guns each year in the United States, and I wound up frustrated in a whole new way.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/opinions/i-used-to-think-gun-control-was-the-answer-my-research-told-me-otherwise/2017/10/03/d33edca6-a851-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html
I don’t suffer fools in my regular life. There’s no reason why I should on line.
This is how you decide what is worthwhile
“I will be the one to choose whether I will or will not read it”
I don’t read every piece of crap that comes on my computer and neither do you nor anybody else. Your inability to grasp that is troubling.
Your claim to fame has become your own demand that others do your research for you.
You made clear on that Tesla thread.
Even where you demanded I provide you with some synopsis you were wrong. I did exactly that on each link posted.
Moreover, it was clear I was showing just how much information on Tesla’s real and varied problems exist. And those are only getting worse, not better.
This is not to say they are all bad, only that they have no competition to speak of yet. What happens once they do have competition is the real question.
You just don’t like it when your favorite ox is being fully and properly gored.
And you did not need to read every story to see it.
Now, have some cheese to go with your whine.
“Your claim to fame has become your own demand that others do your research for you.”
So you want me to do the research in order to be convinced of YOUR opinion. I’m not whining. Just deciding not to suffer fools. And once again, I won’t do the research. The Tesla episode is mostly gone from memory, so I don’t really know the particulars of what you’re talking about and I have no need to dredge it back up.
Since you find me so difficult to deal with, please don’t. It would make both of us happier.
At the risk of repeating myself,
You just don’t like it when your favorite ox is being fully and properly gored.