Las Vegas Shooting

TOPIC: Las Vegas

FACT: On Sunday, October 1, a sixty-four-year old retired accountant named Stephen Paddock opened fire at concertgoers in Las Vegas, NV, killing fifty-eight people and additionally injuring five hundred more. This unexpected mass-shooting has launched plenty of controversy as well, by reminding the country what a hot-button issue gun-control has become in the United States of America. 

Shortly after 10:00 PM Sunday night, at the Route 91 Harvest festival, an outside country music festival was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. Police reported that the gunman fired at a crowd of over twenty-two thousand people from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, several hundred feet from the concert grounds. Witnesses describe the publicized massacre by saying the gunfire lasted for nearly a full fifteen minutes. Once the shooting had ended police were able to explore the hotel where they found Paddock dead on the floor, leading to the conclusion the wealthy former accountant had taken his own life. Police believe that Paddock acted alone as well.

Paddock's family and former girlfriend were shocked at what he had done in Vegas. The gunman's brother, Eric Paddock, told reporters he was beyond stunned by the attack, while the his former girlfriend, Marilou Danley, described her partner as "a kind, caring, quiet man". According to forensic psychologist Reid Meloy though, Paddock may have demonstrated more than one warning behavior signaling whether someone is capable of committing a crime as severe as this. One such behavior pattern Paddock conveyed was engaging in deep, private research, which most likely turned into secretive planning and preparation for an act of violence; this observation adds up because it was later revealed that over the years Paddock had been collecting assault rifles and other semi-automatic weapons, and maybe not by coincidence, police had found a total of twenty-three guns in his hotel room the night of the attack. Even though police have thoroughly traced Paddock's steps, his motive(s) are still unknown, and so the Vegas shooting is not yet officially considered an act of terrorism.  

   

As for people's general reactions to the attack, an array of celebrities along with average citizens have expressed their concern for Vegas by spreading the trending hashtag #PrayForVegas, which has now flooded social media. In fact, country singer Jason Aldean, who performed the night of the mass-shooting, made a surprising but appreciated appearance on Saturday Night Live last weekend to pay tribute to the families affected that night by performing Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" in replace of the usual opening Trump sketch. 

Lastly, late-night television show-host Jimmy Kimmel made a controversial statement on how this tragic event reflects the state of American gun-control laws, explaining that there should not only be more secure background checks on gun-buyers, but empathizing the idea that the country would be safer if it were not as easy for people with metal illnesses to own a gun. Kimmel's statement got quite the backlash though as people called his logic "delusional", as he acknowledged the fact that the Vegas shooter didn't have any disabilities or mental illnesses, though went on to tell the live studio audience the best way to solve America's gun-control problem is to put stricter gun regulations on mentally handicapped citizens. And, according to BBC and the National Center for Health Statistics, less than 5% of US gun-related killings between 2001 and 2010 were committed by people diagnosed with a mental illness.

The Las Vegas massacre is now the deadliest mass-shooting in modern US history, which was previously held by the Orlando shooting just last year. We all know these consistent shootings must come to an end, because even though every American under the Constitution has the right of bear arms, I personally do not believe it is necessary for any one person to carry twenty assault weapons for the purpose of self-defense.