I speak for many who feel such a huge sense of loss after the events of Sunday. The newsfeed and the Facebook posts are glutted with stories of heroism and abject bravery. I am continuously in awe of the goodness in people who helped complete strangers and who literally saved lives.
But I am numb. As my sainted mother used to say, Garbage In Garbage Out. And it really upsets me. Four days out I am aware of a hollow sensation in my chest. It's not unlike a splinter stuck under the fingernail. It's an actual physical pain that causes me pause. Is this what a change of heart looks like? Is this what happens when your heart is breaking?
All of the chatter about the Second Amendment and gun owner rights' and the citizen's Right to Bear Arms. I am not about to relinquish any legal citizen the right to bear arms.
But the argument that the Second Amendment was written to protect against government tyranny is bothersome.
Here's why....believing that we as everyday citizens will be able to protect ourselves against government tyranny is ridiculous. See St Louis...see Charlottesville...see any non-peaceful protest, anti-Fa or otherwise, in which the government has used automatic weaponry against its citizens. They have not.
What they have used these high-yield weapons against are: terrorists. Criminals. Those who threaten our safety in an immediate frame. The SWAT team who attacked the hotel room in Mandalay Bay used I am sure automatic weapons. I am not claiming to see into the government's capacity to overthrow the populace, and do believe that we are to be on guard against all threats, both foreign and domestic, but the belief that our cache of weaponry will protect us against our government tyranny is not valid. We are the most powerful, well-armed and well-protected federal government in the world.
Well except for North Korea, but those poor men and women are starved to indifference. Their hierarchy consists of where their next meal will come from, not from taking out Rocket Man.
Listen all they need is an armored-personnel carrier. I've seen those on our streets more than any agent with a high-caliber weapon. It just takes one armored-personal carrier to take out a mob of people. Currently there are laws on the books against ownership of said vehicle. Simply for that reason.
Maybe instead we should argue for more defensive measures such as these? Bulletproof windows on all vehicles? A registration for a tank, one that is capable of not only dispersing crowds, but of also busting through government-mandated barricades.
Okay now it's becoming more clear now why they have rules against such things. I could see that becoming an issue.
The police in every town own high-capacity automatic weapons. As they should. And as I have tried to teach my children as often as possible in this brief frame of education I possess...try with all of your might to avoid any contact with police officers. Avoid all interaction with police. When you're pulled over, put your hands on the top of the steering wheel in full view of the officer who pulled you over. Be respectful. Honor the law.
So as such I see no need to protect myself from the police. Sorry kneeling NFL athletes. It's just not on my radar to fear the patrolman.
So in that regard I hope they will never require a weapon to defend themselves against the police.
I own weapons. We possess weapons. Despite a calm demeanor, we have two ridiculously loyal hounds and we also possess the power of prayer. I do not believe I will ever need to own an automatic weapon. I see no need. Yes we own a gun, a glorious piece of engineering that we coddle and oil and clean and polish to its highest gleam, that we keep not only as a means of protection, but as a means of respect for ourselves. We are confident enough to know how to shoot a single-caliber weapon. Repeatedly.
I think the pain that I feel is the repeated stories of heroism from Vegas. The men who covered their wives...their girlfriends...the women who grabbed strangers and hid behind cars with them. The man who stole a truck to drive 30 people to the hospital. Even the man who was flipping the bird as the shots rang out. In a night full of brilliance and shining stars of compassion, this guy emitted an ironic sardonic gleam into the evening.
I am beyond impressed. I am beyond amazed.
What I am is despondent... over 500 people injured. Was this a plane crash? It's distressing that the loss of life 59 lost souls isn't horrific enough. It's the number of casualties who flooded all of the hospitals in Nevada. The rivers of blood.
While the speculation is still that this Paddock did act alone, I realize the investigation is still fluid. I am not one to believe that conspiracy theories are valid or worth my time, simply for the reason that I believe that the capacity to commit evil is a powerful force. When one is committing acts of atrocity, they are duly blessed with chemicals such as adrenaline, and emotions such as hate...bigotry...vengeance. Those emotions are all capable of emitting chemicals that empower evil. It is always easiest to be angry than to be happy. It's just a fact. Hatred and evil are not blessed with an easily deployed handbrake.
So do I believe a 64-year old man capable of carrying 10 bags of weapons up onto the 32nd floor.
Yes. He checked into the hotel on Thursday. He was there for 4 days. He could have brought bags of weapons on hotel baggage carts over four days. It's not an exhausting process.
(And to add some levity....remember in the movie The Hangover, members of the Wolfpack were able to haul a tiger out of Caesar's Palace. Without a second glance. Maybe Vegas has seen it all.)
A single white older man traveling alone is I am sure nothing new to hotel staff in Vegas. Records show he was in fact a popular guest of the casinos, well-known as a high-stakes gambler. Maybe they thought nothing of it.
Regardless...the idea that one man could commit such a horrific crime, killing 59 people and injuring over 500...that is unconscionable. It's unconscionable. It appears that after he moved the couches around to support himself against the windows, he broke the windows out and began to spray the crowd of 21,000 directly below. Do you need much strength to hold a weapon against a couch cushion and point it down? Was there any signs of him aiming? In my estimation so far there is no evidence of him using a gunsight or any accessories to make the weapon accurate.
It was indiscriminate. He picked his audience (country fans) and didn't even choose his target. He just began to shoot. One man injuring, some mortally, nearly 600 people.
600 people. Do I think one man can injure that many?
With a bump stock? Yes I do. Now that we've seen what it can do...what are we waiting for? Is 59 people still too diminutive a number to register?
For a police agent of the government, who is in legal possession of automatic weaponry, to prop up its gun and begin shooting, there is a point in our lives where we need to question how we got there. It has not happened in our nations history, against its citizens. And it won't.
What should happen is this...the local police departments and law enforcement of venues who are going to host large events, need to protect its citizens better. We need to tighten barricades, check accreditations, make these festival events in open air settings a thing of the past.
We need to post police officers in sniper positions at all venues. We need to post police presence more openly and freely.
We need to protect our populace in the same manner that we do our banks. Our federal government. Our federal treasury. While these concrete buildings are all possessors of items that criminals desire, mostly money or treasure, concert venues and train stations, and boardwalks and sadly, even elementary and high schools, possess our greater treasure...our loved ones. We need to protect these priceless treasures even MORE than we do our government offices. Because they are irreplaceable. Souls are irreplaceable.
I think if we as a nation were to answer back with a renewed respect for our police, giving them MORE weapons and higher-powered guns, then those who would wish us harm may think again. The idea that a police sniper posted on a hotel at a point could have seen the window break and watched the gun fire, from a clear vantage point, and could have killed him sooner than he was taken out, makes me feel that maybe all is not lost.
So No, I don't think that anyone in the general public should have the capability of killing 59 people and injuring 600 more. I don't think one man should have more authority than the US government to kill innocent citizens. We should reconsider a ban on bump-stock machinery modifications for guns sold in the US and make it painfully illegal for someone to be caught in possession of one. No one needs to injure 600 people.
Because we didn't get to elect Steven Paddock. He didn't go through a rigorous background check. We didn't get to vote as to whether or not he should own an automatic weapon.
And we vote for our government every two years and every four years. And so far they've not killed any innocents at a country concert.
Praying for the victims and families of victims.
#LasVegas Strong
