What About That Paddock Guy?

 

                So, I know everyone, even those living under rocks, remembers the worst mass-shooting massacre in American history when on October 1 of this year, Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, fired over 1100 rounds from his suite in The Mandalay Bay on 22,000 concertgoers at The Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and wounding 546.

                The cops killed him about 10 minutes after he started shooting, which is remarkable to me. I know it isn’t popular these days to say good things about cops, what with slavery running rampant in the NFL and all, but way to go guys.

                But then what happened? His brother’s into kiddie porn, Paddock’s own hard drive was missing even more mysteriously than Hillary Clinton’s and his girlfriend knew nothing about anything, but is that the end of the story?

                I’ve been trying to find out but the last sliver of news I can find on the whole story is from October 20 when CNN updated the timeline of events given by the LVPD. That’s it?

                If the leftstream media shut up about it one has to wonder just how high up in the DNC this guy was connected. There’s actually no evidence the guy is even a democrat or that his actions were politically or ideologically motivated. I’m just being catty because of that ABC exec who said Paddock did the country a favor because only Trump fans like Country Western music and would have been in the crowd.

I love Country Western music.

                We know there isn’t much to know about Paddock. By all accounts he was a quiet guy who kept to himself and loved gambling. If he liked you he could be generous. He had no close friends. His work history included time as a mail carrier, an IRS auditor and an accountant. He seems to have made a lot of money flipping real estate.

                Interestingly his father was a machine-gun toting bank robber who died in prison (after escaping twice). Dad was arrested when Stephen was seven and, other than by his absence, is not believed to have been a big influence on Stephen’s life. Genetics, maybe?

                If nothing else, I am personally glad Paddock did not survive his incident. I still almost lose my mind over the fact James Holmes, the Aurora, CO, theater shooter and killer of 12 innocent people, is in a mental institution and not the ground.

                If Paddock had survived I guess we could have given him Charlie Manson’s old digs since he finally died after spawning the original sick and twisted version of mass murder back in 1969. It was never granted but Charles actually had parole hearings on a regular basis which is not the same thing as throwing away the key.

                What is wrong with us? And we continue to blame things other than the maniacs who murder. Oh well.

                Not to break any liberal, gun-control hearts but as horrific as Paddock’s senseless and tragic murder of 58 innocent souls was, we don’t hold the record. On July 22, 2011 in Oslo, Norway (a country with gun control laws that would make any Californian envious), Anders Behring Breivik blew up eight people in downtown Norway with a fertilizer bomb and shot 69 more (mostly kids) at a summer camp.

                Breivik obtained most of his impressive arsenal quietly and legally as hunting firearms. He had a little trouble with the handguns but solved that with the worldwide internet. He got his bomb stuff in Poland and fine-tuned his shooting skills at practice ranges in other countries. He credited the video game “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2” as his primary training aid.

                When captured, Breivik’s first comment to the press was, “I can’t believe it took them that long to stop me.” (Only he said it in Norwegian, of course.)

                Again, kudos to the Las Vegas police for how quickly they took Paddock down. But I also think Breivik’s story and cynicism are an excellent argument for expanding conceal carry laws. But that’s just me because I’m more serious about stopping nuts like Breivik and Holmes and Scott Ostrem than I am with advancing an hysterical ideology. Feel free to have fun debating my hypocrisy around your dining room table.  Acknowleged. Next.

                Ostrem, by the way, was the Walmart shooter in Thornton, Colorado, who walked through the front door of the store and opened fire killing three before he was confronted by three other Walmart shoppers with conceal carry permits who had drawn their guns and confronted him. Ostrem turned and retraced his path out of the store without taking anymore lives and we anxiously await word as to what childhood trauma may have twisted his little mind into a pretzel.

                Oh, and our friend Anders Breivik, he received a 21-year sentence, which apparently is the maximum sentence you can receive for anything in Norway unless there is something worse than slaughtering 77 people on a sunny day in July. 

                He is currently serving his sentence in a three-cell suite equipped with exercise equipment, television and a computer. You don’t have to believe me. Google it.

                He will be eligible for release in 2033. At that time judges could continue to lengthen his sentence by five years and every five years thereafter if he continues to express an interest in killing large numbers of people (or even small numbers, I’d imagine). But sure, it’s the guns, not the maniacs. Or maybe it’s the fertilizer. (What a clever, almost unintended pun!)

                You won’t believe this but I sat down to write this blog about the 500,000 machine guns still in private circulation in this country after we passed a law in 1986 to quit making them other than to fulfill military or law enforcement contracts. Gun-control enthusiasts will swoon over the fact that I am alarmed and I agree that 500,000 machine guns in private hands is a bad thing.

                There might be some comfort in the BATF’s claim that “almost all” of those half million automatic weapons are owned by ranges which have passed stringent requirements to be classified as “secured facilities” and which house the weapons for rent and use within those facilities only. They must be fun to shoot, I guess.

                However, not being a fan of Common Core Math nor a reporter for CNN, “almost all” isn’t an actual number in my neighborhood and I couldn’t find a more numeric representation more of us might be able to relate to.

                The BATF probably also thinks we would find it reassuring to know that to own a pre-1986 manufacture machine gun one must secure an ATF Class II Permit and undergo a rigorous local police background check and supply photos of your bad self as well as fingerprints.

                We would. Except that sales between private individuals may or may not be reported and may or may not be registered.

                The DOJ reports that 79% of prison inmates convicted on crimes involving a firearm acquired said firearm from an illegal source or a friend or family member. And according to the FBI, 232,400 firearms were stolen annually between 2005 and 2010.

                But don’t worry. The Colorado State Gun Law Website says that, “In general, one can safely assume that any fully automatic weapons are banned from civilian use.” Well, except for maybe half a million of them or so.

                I’m just not sure passing more laws is going to help folks.