[Vectra]

I probably see this differently to most people here but believe there is no reason why anyone needs or should have any type of automatic weapon be it semi or otherwise, these can be taken out of circulation by a change in the law and reduce the death toll significantly seen all over the country.

There are no valid arguments about second amendment rights and citizens freedoms that justify the current situation where mass shooting of large groups of people are so easy to perpetrate by any member of the public that might be a perfectly law abiding citizen one day and have a breakdown the next.

The reason I see it differently is because I am not American but English and have lived through the change of gun laws in the UK where just 2 mass killings was enough for the government of the time to act and abolish just about all guns in circulation and have seen no mass shooting since.

I currently live in Spain where similar strict gun laws make gun crime something that you just don’t think about, it happens but in such small numbers it’s not given a thought and personal safety is almost guaranteed with violent crime again minimal even in parts of towns and city’s that may not be the best.

I now own a house near the Villages and love everything about it and enjoy my time spent there and the friends I have made but am more than aware that shootings are happening at least once a month sometimes weekly within a few miles of my home there and consciously go home before the bad guys come out each evening and am slightly on edge in situations that I would never be in Europe.

Someone needs to have the balls to stand up to the NRA and say enough’s enough and that this type of carnage can and needs to be brought to an end for all the thousands of innocent people who have lost their lives so needlessly over the last few years and for all those who will lose their lives in the future if something isn’t done.

[Schaumburger]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Correct me if I am wrong. Are guns legal to own in Chicago? I don't have a gun, but I am glad my neighbors do. If a law were passed to limit ownership of guns, only the good guys would obey the law. THAT is the reality. I think there are two ways to look at things and two ways to vote. What sounds nice and what really happens.

Handgun ownership has been legal in the City of Chicago since 2010 per a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Gun sales are "banned" in the City of Chicago (notice I put banned in parentheses as the real situation is much different. If you are a Chicago resident and wish to legally purchase a handgun, you must go to the suburbs to make your purchase. Handgun owners in the City of Chicago must also get an Illinois Firearm Owners ID card, complete a firearms safety course, get a City of Chicago Firearms Permit and then register the firearm with the City of Chicago. Do all handgun owners in Chicago follow the city's handgun ordinance requirements...of course not.

From Time Out Chicago's web site:

In June, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that effectively, and instantly, shot down Chicago’s 28-year-old handgun ban. The opinion, issued by a narrow 5-4 majority, said the Second Amendment protects the right to own a handgun for self-defense, a decision that overrides state and municipal restrictions. Otis McDonald, a South Side septuagenarian and the namesake plaintiff in McDonald v. Chicago, was among several local petitioners in the suit sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association. McDonald argued he had the right to protect himself and his family in his Morgan Park neighborhood, which he described as crime ridden.

“The number of Chicago homicide victims during the current year [2010] equaled the number of American soldiers killed during that same period in Afghanistan and Iraq,” justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “If safety of…law abiding members of the community would be enhanced by the possession of handguns in the home for self-defense, then the Second Amendment right protects the rights of minorities and other residents of high-crime areas whose needs are not being met by elected public officials.”

[Schaumburger]

This past August, the gunman also reserved rooms at Chicago's Blackstone Hotel which overlooks the 4 day Lollapalooza music festival. Lollapalooza draws about 100,000 people per day to Chicago's Grant Park. The gunman did not actually stay at the hotel during this past August's Lollapalooza festival, according to the Blackstone.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Schaumburger

This past August, the gunman also reserved rooms at Chicago's Blackstone Hotel which overlooks the 3 day Lollapalooza music festival, which draws about 100,000 people per day to Chicago's Grant Park. The gunman did not actually stay at the hotel during this past August's Lollapalooza festival, according to the Blackstone.

He was scoping out various cities for an attack. This man looks like he was very deliberative and not mentally ill. Just a very evil person. My friend told me that he hoped this man had a tumor that caused this as my friend could no understand how someone could do this.

With Chicago they have to address the gangs there which are connected to the lucrative drug trade. The guns are used to defend their turfs and further gang violence while many civilians get caught in the cross-fire or are out right targeted if they have some connection with the gang like a relative in one of them.

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

...This man looks like he was very deliberative and not mentally ill...

A person can definitely be both.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

A person can definitely be both.

Yes. But that has usually been diagnosed by that time and noticed by relatives, friends, co-workers and the like. John Forbes Nast was a brilliant thinker with serious mental health problems. A Beautiful Mind (film - Wikipedia)

John Forbes Nash Jr. - Wikipedia.

There is no evidence so far that Steven Paddock was mentally ill. A great deal that he was extremely evil in nature.

[Taltarzac725]

An ex-Marine goes on a killing spree at the University of Texas - Aug 01, 1966 - HISTORY.com

I do remember that this man had some serious problems with his brain when he did this other tragic act by a sniper.

Some of the various news programs have mentioned this killer in their discussions of the Las Vegas mass murderer Steven Paddock.

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

...There is no evidence so far that Steven Paddock was mentally ill...

Other than killing 59 people and wounding hundreds more? Yeah...no evidence at all.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

Other than killing 59 people and wounding hundreds more? Yeah...no evidence at all.

Hitler and his henchmen killed at least 11 million people or so. Or contributed greatly to the war that created that mess and I do not believe any of those people were mentally ill. The Holocaust's Forgotten Victims: The 5 Million Non-Jewish People Killed By The Nazis | HuffPost

Heinrich Himmler - Military Leader - Biography.com

[manaboutown]

Stalin killed what, 20,000,000 to 60,000,000? no one knows.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

Stalin killed what, 20,000,000 to 60,000,000? no one knows.

I believe that the Nazis kept very meticulous records of their evil plan. Stalin was just acting according to whatever he felt threatened him and his State.

Has there been any word of mental illness on the part of Steven Paddock? I am not aware of any. The mystery of Stephen Paddock's brain - CNN

And some people with mental illnesses of various kinds have made great works of art. Artists with mental illnesses

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Hitler and his henchmen killed at least 11 million people or so. Or contributed greatly to the war that created that mess and I do not believe any of those people were mentally ill...

You have your definition. I have mine.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by affald

Good point, I wonder how long it will be before they disclose the wackadoodles autopsy results.

Autopsy results? What would you think they would be looking for? Perhaps drugs? Brain tumor?

I think this man acted alone. I think he had the time to set it all up, the money, and some kind of sick motivation. I think the prostitutes seen with him on his last days may be able to tell somebody something, but I think he was mad at the world. Dangerously mad at the world and may have had a genetic criminal tendency of some kind. His family is a little odd in my opinion.

But of course that could be said about most of our families.

[affald]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Autopsy results? What would you think they would be looking for? Perhaps drugs? Brain tumor?

I think this man acted alone. I think he had the time to set it all up, the money, and some kind of sick motivation. I think the prostitutes seen with him on his last days may be able to tell somebody something, but I think he was mad at the world. Dangerously mad at the world and may have had a genetic criminal tendency of some kind. His family is a little odd in my opinion.

But of course that could be said about most of our families.

Wonder if he had obvious defects, maybe the warrior gene too.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Autopsy results? What would you think they would be looking for? Perhaps drugs? Brain tumor?

I think this man acted alone. I think he had the time to set it all up, the money, and some kind of sick motivation. I think the prostitutes seen with him on his last days may be able to tell somebody something, but I think he was mad at the world. Dangerously mad at the world and may have had a genetic criminal tendency of some kind. His family is a little odd in my opinion.

But of course that could be said about most of our families.

That sounds like a correct assessment. And I doubt if he would have told high-end call girls much of anything. They would have told someone having no loyalty to a man planning such carnage.