Does anyone really believe that one person could kill 50 people and wound 500 more with a single truck?
The weapon he used was specifically made to kill lots of people quickly from a distance- there’s a reason that the military doesn’t use cars instead!
Its a cheap way to deflect the conversation when people do that. It’s much harder for a truck or car to have gotten into that concert area and plow over 50-400 people. And there’s always something that can be used to hurt people. but guns only function is to kill, seems like focusing on restricting access to a tool designed for such a thing is the path of least resistance.
I’d be with you, but the fact that this guy targeted a country concert is dumbfounding. It would be a bit like ISIS targeting their own recruitment centres. Unless there is more to this context that I’m missing (like the singer being an avowed Democrat or something), I wouldn’t be so quick to land it at Trump’s feet. After all, what we should be really hoping is that Trump will be the first president to enact strict gun regulations across the whole country. Unlikely, I know, but that would be the best outcome you could hope for, today, and you won’t achieve it by calling him names.
Based on the report that 10 firearms were found in his hotel room, I tend to agree. This doesn’t indicate a guy who got upset because he lost everything at the gaming tables, it suggests someone looking to make a statement, even if it was based in the febrile delusions of mental illness.
GOD DAMNED we appear to be.
God, if she exists, has nothing to do with this.
This insanity is purely man-made.
The thing is, it doesn’t really matter what his motives were. Maybe he was sending a message, maybe he’d had a bad day, maybe he was having a psychotic break… The result is the same. And clearly there is no “reason” to do this that society would agree with – it is, in that sense, a crazy thing to do. But the result is that Americans are more terrified of each other, more terrified that participating in innocuous social activities could lead to being shot. So in a sense, regardless of this man’s reasoning, the event ends up being a kind of terrorism.
The hesitancy to call acts of terror that are not clearly linked to what Americans perceive as external influences (like Islamic extremism) is why people would call this terrorism, although we do not know what motives he had. I get that. And I don’t disagree. But, in the end, what does it matter why he did this? If, for example, he were having some kind of drug induced hallucination, would that make people feel safer? I doubt it. The knowledge that someone can do this, for whatever reason is a terrifying one.
I completely agree with you!
However, if the motivations were, for example, motivated by religious beliefs (Muslim, Christian, whatever), for example, that will drastically change the narrative the news media would use. That’s completely besides the point IMHO, but we can’t pretend that there isn’t a whole lot of folks waiting for a “reason”, and that when that “reason” is either known or reasonably inferred, their “take” on this whole situation will change, regardless of the fact that the act is equally heinous regardless of motivation.
As far as I understand, auto-fire weapons are already illegal for civilians to buy or own in most of the USA, and the exceptions are genuinely hard to get. Now, I think the American gun culture is hugely fucked up, but this case doesn’t seem to be part of the usual trouble. (Personally, I’d rather like to get rid of most handguns, but…)
I’ve never seen a right to ammunition in the Constitution.
Now that we’ve established that the alleged gunman was white and non-Muslim, here’s a forecast for the week to come:
Thoughts and prayers from folks who could act to prevent this sort of thing but will instead work to ensure it happens again
Vague chatter about mental health that doesn’t lead to any action other than further stigmatizing the mentally ill
Framing of “lone wolf” gunman who allegedly had an accomplice-a woman of color, that folks will look to hoping for a “real” terror link
The president will make a mindblowingly offensive and/or tone deaf comment about this tragedy (worse than “warmest condolences”)
The National Anthem at sports games will be used as a memorial and any athlete who doesn’t participate will be shamed as anti-American
America will continue to sacrifice white lives in order to uphold the institutions (guns guns guns) designed to protect them from POC.
“Stemming the violence, then, means deconstructing hate. It means considering every element in the creation and enabling of so many psychopaths. And one that tends to be overlooked— widely known but narrowly considered— is the simple fact that almost all mass murderers are men. As of 2014, Time cited the number at 98 percent. That makes masculinity a more common feature than any of the elements that tend to dominate discourse—religion, race, nationality, political affiliation, or any history of mental illness.”
I understand where you’re coming from, but for some people their cultural affinity for the targeted event can be beside the point or make things worse. Some people hate the fact the others are enjoying their lives whilst theirs have gone pear-shaped (e.g. “and why should all these elites get to enjoy my music?”). If that’s the motivation this would obviously be an extreme expression of it, but the fact is that a lot of people voted for the president* with no hope of bettering their own miserable lots but with a lot of hope that it would make life more difficult for minorities, women, LGBT folks, liberals, intellectuals, etc. and other “undeserving” people who were happy and healthy during the Obama administration.
In any case, we don’t know what the motivation is with this particular angry old white dude, so discussing this only puts what little we know in the larger context of angry old white dudes radicalised and enabled by a toxic president*.
They’ve also been routine. In several countries since the 90s particularly after Columbine. So it’s hardly new.
Yes. And that is why the term has relevance.
I just wish that people could see past these simplistic narratives. But I’m not holding my breath.
this.
I have had this argument with gun advocates so many times as they throw in my face “A plane, a car, a kitchen knife, a baseball bat, a hammer…they can all be used to kill people” to which I reply…
Yes. Yes they can. Some can harm one, some can harm many; however, those instruments all were designed and built for other primary purposes. Guns have one purpose. They are engineered for one purpose and one purpose alone…to kill. That’s it. They have zero other function or purpose but to kill.
Equating a gun to any other object is a false equivalency. period.
I’m hearing over and over (on Fox News, of course, and from NV police talking heads) that: “Now is not the time for politics.” And that “nothing” could have been done to stop this act, save perhaps higher “El Al Airlines”-level security at Mandalay Bay hotel check-in.
Gee, what could have hindered an individual from owning and firing 10 semi-automatic weapons, using thousands of rounds of ammunition?
What if it were slightly more difficult to own 10 semi-automatic weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition?
Nah… That’s being “political.” Now is not the time for that.
And I’m going to make a fair guess that, 6, 12, 18 months from now, it will also not be the time for “politics,” that is, any discussion about gun control.
(Whats amazing is: they don’t even have to mention "gun control". The dog whistle of “politics” for “gun control” is so thoroughly ingrained, they will never feel the need to go to the questionable statement: “Gun control can never have any effect on preventing a mass shooting.” So there is no question.)
This was true by ~530AM EST.
Ah, Fox News. Typical maneuver. Anything that counteracts their normal narrative gets to be brushed off as, “Now is not the time for politics”. If the guy was brown, or nominally Muslim, it would be the time for politics.
If some connection is made to Muslims, or god forbid some sort of liberal leaning cause, it’ll be game on again like that snaps fingers.
