It was one year ago today
We begin with the names of the 58 victims, killed on October 1, 2017.
Hannah Lassette Ahlers
Heather Lorraine Alvarado
Dorene Anderson
Carrie Rae Barnette
Jack Reginald Beaton
Stephen Richard Berger
Candice Ryan Bowers
Denise Burditus
Sandra Casey
Andrea Lee Anna Castilla
Denise Cohen
Austin William Davis
r Topaz Irvine
Teresa Nicol Kimura
Jessica Klymchuk
Carly Anne Kreibaum
Rhonda M LeRocque
Victor L Link
Jordan McIldoon
Kelsey Breanne Meadows
Calla-Marie Medig
James Melton
Patricia Mestas
Austin Cooper Meyer
Adrian Allan Murfitt
Rachael Kathleen Parker
Jennifer Parks
Carolyn Lee Parsons
Lisa Marie Patterson
John Joseph Phippen
Melissa V Ramirez
Jordyn N Rivera
Quinton Robbins
Cameron Robinson
Tara Ann Roe
Lisa Romero-Muniz
Christopher Louis Roybal
Brett Schwanbeck
Bailey Schweitzer
Laura Anne Shipp
Erick Silva
Susan Smith
Brennan Lee Stewart
Derrick Dean Taylor
Neysa C Tonks
Michelle Vo
Kurt Allen Von Tillow
William W Wolfe, Jr
* * *
It was just after 10 pm on a warm summer Sunday night in Las Vegas. At the Las Vegas Valley Village site, across the famed "Strip" from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, the Route 91 Harvest Festival was about to wrap up its three day run. The closing act on the festival's final night was Jason Aldean.
The music was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. From his connecting suites on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, 64 year old Stephen Paddock had opened fire. He had eight AR-10 assault rifles and 14 AR-15 assault rifles, 12 of which were modified with bump-stock devices. The bump-stock allows the semi-automatic AR-15 to be fired with nearly the same rate of fire as a fully automatic weapon.
That is why he was able to rain down over 1,100 rounds on the thousands below at the concert venue, in less than 12 minutes. He killed 58 people, wounded 422 more and caused an additional 429 injuries from the panic that resulted.
Paddock would take his own life before police stormed into his suite. There is only speculation as to what his motive was. People can argue that this wasn't an act of terrorism because it wasn't politically motivated, but there is no question that this was a night of terror for everyone there, everyone who watched the bone-chilling video and everyone else; who fears being a victim of the next mass shooting.
* * *
There is no official definition of the term mass shooting. Most definitions involve an incident where four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter. Using that definition, since October 1, 2017, there are have been 264 more mass shootings in the United States.
Other than offering their thoughts and prayers, politicians have done very little to try to eliminate these mass shootings. Extremely rare in other nations, they are a common occurrence here in the United States.
The most recent mass shooting in the U.S. was on September 21st. September 21st was the 264th day of the year and that shooting at a Rite Aid distribution facility was the 261st mass shooting of 2018. Nearly one a day.
A bill was introduced into Congress to ban bump stocks but no action has been taken on the proposal. The public comment period on a proposed change to the rules enforced by the Department of Justice that would treat bump stocks the same as machine guns was opened on March 29, 2018 and was to close before the end of June 2018. As I write this, those regulations have yet to be enacted. The states of Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Vermont and Washington have banned bump stocks.
* * *
Keep your thoughts and prayers. Take action that will change the equation. Otherwise, get out of the way, get out of office and let's get some elected leaders who will ACT!!
It was just after 10 pm on a warm summer Sunday night in Las Vegas. At the Las Vegas Valley Village site, across the famed "Strip" from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, the Route 91 Harvest Festival was about to wrap up its three day run. The closing act on the festival's final night was Jason Aldean.
The music was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. From his connecting suites on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, 64 year old Stephen Paddock had opened fire. He had eight AR-10 assault rifles and 14 AR-15 assault rifles, 12 of which were modified with bump-stock devices. The bump-stock allows the semi-automatic AR-15 to be fired with nearly the same rate of fire as a fully automatic weapon.
That is why he was able to rain down over 1,100 rounds on the thousands below at the concert venue, in less than 12 minutes. He killed 58 people, wounded 422 more and caused an additional 429 injuries from the panic that resulted.
Paddock would take his own life before police stormed into his suite. There is only speculation as to what his motive was. People can argue that this wasn't an act of terrorism because it wasn't politically motivated, but there is no question that this was a night of terror for everyone there, everyone who watched the bone-chilling video and everyone else; who fears being a victim of the next mass shooting.
* * *
There is no official definition of the term mass shooting. Most definitions involve an incident where four or more people are shot, excluding the shooter. Using that definition, since October 1, 2017, there are have been 264 more mass shootings in the United States.
Other than offering their thoughts and prayers, politicians have done very little to try to eliminate these mass shootings. Extremely rare in other nations, they are a common occurrence here in the United States.
The most recent mass shooting in the U.S. was on September 21st. September 21st was the 264th day of the year and that shooting at a Rite Aid distribution facility was the 261st mass shooting of 2018. Nearly one a day.
A bill was introduced into Congress to ban bump stocks but no action has been taken on the proposal. The public comment period on a proposed change to the rules enforced by the Department of Justice that would treat bump stocks the same as machine guns was opened on March 29, 2018 and was to close before the end of June 2018. As I write this, those regulations have yet to be enacted. The states of Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Vermont and Washington have banned bump stocks.
* * *
Keep your thoughts and prayers. Take action that will change the equation. Otherwise, get out of the way, get out of office and let's get some elected leaders who will ACT!!
posted by me at 8:09 AM
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