Vocal Voices

This man must surely have had a machine gun to do this much damage? 58 killed and 500 plus injured.

Even with a semi-automatic rifle you'd have to be shooting for an awfully long time to kill and injure so many. I think you can buy fully automatic weapons in Nevada too, but after this not for much longer, perhaps.

I have just posted on cafe, my friend and her family including my God daughter were caught up in the Vegas shooting

MM, my friend and his wife are there too. He has posted on FB that they are both OK.

He must have had more than one automatic weapon to hand to create such carnage, surely. Absolutely horrifying. And worst of all, completely random, no apparent motive known so far.

Glad your friends are OK, Cromwell and MM.

Thank you, apparently he had a whole arsenal at his disposal, thank God the police realised where he was firing from as quick as they did.

Pleased your friends are ok to Cromwell

It's about time the USA changed their policy of allowing anyone to have guns.

Perhaps this will persuade them to change their attitude now.

As horrific as it is, I'll eat my hat if gun laws change. Apparently the gun lobby groups are trying to make silencers even easier to get I don't want to imagine how bad the next one will be. At least these people could hear the gun shots above the sound of the music.

That NRA has a lot of blood on its hands.

I always find this kind of thing incredibly sad but I don't go all knee jerk reaction about it. I feel for those who have lost family and those who will be forever scarred by this event. People who will, forever, relive the incident every time a car backfires.

However I also understand the NRA, the US constitution and why they defend their gun ownership so vociferously. Yes, controls need to be tightened in some states but the reality is this. Nearly 70% of all murders in the US are carried out by a gun. In the UK it is around 3%. However in the UK 36% are carried out by knife and another 15% or so by kicking or punching. In the US, that is 12% by knife and 6% by hands, feet or other methods.

I hate knee jerk reactions because some people were mowed down by some maniac. Take their guns and the next thing we know they'll be using UHaul trucks and we know how effective than can be.

Personally I'd like to see some more checking and a better documentation trail for weapons in the US. But reality says it will take a few generations before it really impacts. Start shouting about outright bans and the NRA is likely to come back with "Yes and getting rid of Miranda and Evidence laws will put more murderers behind bars than have ever been killed by gun. What price your democracy?". In a way they would be right.

Personally I'll spend my time with my thoughts and wishes to those impacted and supporting calm, sensible moves to increase the controls on weapons in the US.

I agree about sensible measures Suff. Here are mine for starters.

There is really no good reason for anyone outside the armed forces to have an automatic weapon, so they should go.

Sensible gun control measures (to start with) should concentrate on the aspects of the Las Vegas shooting which resulted in so many casualties. Namely:-
1) The use of an fully automatic weapon.
2) Devices to convert semi-auto weapons to full auto.
3) High capacity magazines.
4) The possession of thousands of rounds of ammunition.
When you add all that up you get the ability to fire quickly and to reload quickly. Slow the rate of fire, the duration of fire and the rate at which a weapon can be reloaded and you reduce the casualties.

This needs to be done as a priority. After that you can consider handguns and semi autos.

Even if the Yanks banned guns today, now, and introduced sensible measures, it would take many decades to get them out of the system.

That the US is where it is goes all the way back to the Constitution and the right to bear arms. Generation after generation has taken up the offer to the point where there are now more than three guns for every man woman and child in the US.

Part of the problem is that when a gun owner dies their guns do not die with them. They are left as part of the deceased's estate to be passed on, given away or traded. That needs sorting out as much as any ban.