GUN- SHY ON REFORM
WHY WOULD AN ORDINARY CITIZEN NEED A MACHINEGUN? ARE THE DEER THAT HARD TO KILL? AND, SURELY A REVOLVER IS SUFFICIENT FOR SELF- DEFENCE
YOU can have all the vetting in the world but it only takes one psychotic episode to make a lawabiding gun owner into a mass- killing monster. The availability of guns in the US, particularly assault weapons including semiautomatic firearms, means the horrors of Las Vegas will be repeated again and again.
We still don’t know what motivated 64- year- old retiree Stephen Paddock to open fire on thousands of country music fans.
It does seems certain, however, that this was no spur of the moment act; it looks like a calculated attack that was weeks, perhaps months, in the planning.
The cowardly killer – described as a “psychopath” by Las Vegas sheriff Joseph Lombardo and a “crazed lunatic” by the mayor Carolyn Goodman – responsible for the worst mass shooting in US history had managed to amass a substantial cache of weapons and ammunition without setting off any alarm bells.
He had been staying at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino for a number of days before the attack and used his vantage point on the 32nd floor, alternating between two windows, to shoot helpless concertgoers below.
Police found 23 firearms including AR- 15- style and AK- 47- style rifles plus a mountain of ammunition in the hotel room. Another 19 guns and several thousand rounds of ammunition were found in the killer’s house. Police also confirmed they had found explosives.
If you are going to amass that sort of weaponry, then Nevada is the place to do it. There are no mandated waiting periods and you can buy as many firearms as you like.
Gun owners do not need a licence and are not required to register their weapons. Enthusiasts can also legally own assault weapons including firearms with largecapacity magazines.
Nevada does require licensed dealers to complete background checks. Criminals, mentally unfit individuals and drug users are banned from buying guns. The problem with that sort of vetting, however, is the likes of Paddock slip through the net and innocent people end up dead and injured.
Before he slaughtered dozens of people and injured hundreds more, Paddock was, on paper at least, a model citizen. He was a universityeducated accountant and a licensed pilot with no history of criminality or mental illness. He was apparently a quiet man who lived in an upscale retirement community with his Asian- Australian girlfriend, Marilou Danley; his only vice appeared to be gambling. That was before he murdered at least 59 people.
If Paddock’s act of evil was in any way motivated by religion or politics then it should be labelled domestic terrorism, but thus far authorities have not released any detail on the killer’s motivations.
There is no simple answer to the US’s gun fetish and it’s naive to think an Australian- style gun buyback could ever happen in a country with more than 300 million firearms and an entrenched gun culture.
ONLY about a third of Americans own a firearm but the number of guns is almost equal to the country’s population of 325 million.
It is now difficult to buy an automatic weapon legally but still available is plenty of semiautomatic weaponry better suited to the battleground.
There has been speculation that Paddock used an automatic weapon or used accessories to increase the firepower of his semiautomatic rifles.
There are currently about 630,000 machine guns registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, including law enforcement weapons.
But why would an ordinary citizen need a machinegun? Are the deer that hard to kill? And, surely a revolver is sufficient for self- defence.
I understand why many Americans feel they need to be armed to protect their homes and families given the crime rate in some regions and the ease with which criminal elements obtain firearms. There does, however, need to be some middle ground in this debate.
The second amendment which states “a well- regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” is sacred to some and the constitution is not a document that can be readily altered; but that doesn’t mean that gun reform is an impossibility.
It’s inaccurate to say that Americans do not debate gun laws and are incapable of self- reflection on the issue. Gun reform has long been a topic of discussion but that hasn’t translated into meaningful legislative change and sadly it is unlikely to in the near future.
A poll by Pew Research Centre conducted earlier this year showed that the overwhelming majority of Americans are concerned about the level of gun violence but only 47 per cent believe that stricter gun laws will reduce mass shootings.
In the past 18 months there have been more than 500 mass shootings in the US in which four or more people have been injured or killed.
One fears there will be many more unless the pro and anti- gun lobbies find a way to negotiate sensible reforms.