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Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.
Fifty-nine dead with 527 wounded in Las Vegas in the worst mass shooting in the modern history of the United States of America.
Some 24 guns – including 12 converted fully-automatic assault rifles — were recovered by police in the hotel room of Stephen Paddock, who lived in Nevada. He was one man ‘shooting fish in a barrel’ from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort overlooking an outdoor country-music festival.
On Sunday night, in a matter of minutes he changed forever the lives of 586 people — young and old — from all walks of life, and the lives of their family, friends and co-workers. The number is staggering.
It’s a real puzzler why this 64-year-old man did this horrible act. Police and news reports say Paddock was not known to law enforcement. He had no criminal record. An owner of three homes, he was obviously wealthy. He possessed at least 47 guns that police found in his homes and that hotel room. Police say that 10 suitcases were brought up to his hotel room after he arrived on Sept. 28.
His family in Florida says he was never violent with political or religious views. Police said Paddock shot himself as they closed in on him, but no suicide note was found. By all accounts he was a pretty normal guy. So what was Paddock’s motive? This cries out for answers that sadly may never be understood. Of course he’s a proven madman, but mad about what?
President Donald Trump flew to Puerto Rico Tuesday to offer full support of the USA in the island’s recovery from a historical natural disaster, then on Wednesday flew to Las Vegas in support of the victims of a man-made, domestic-terror, record-breaking disaster.
The president visited several hospitals to encourage victims to stay strong. He also personally thanked dozens of first responders, emergency doctors and police that bravely rescued hundreds of concert goers saving their lives. There was no talk of politics or gun control, not that day, but in Washington of course the gun control debate will inevitably again reach fever pitch. On Thursday morning, news reports said about 50 people are still hospitalized in critical condition.
“America is truly a nation in mourning … Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a son or a daughter,” President Trump said in his public comments. “We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain. You are not alone. We will never leave your side.”
According to a report in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper, Tiffany Huizar, 18, of Santa Ana, Calif., is recovering from bullet wounds to the stomach and elbow and was thrilled to have met President Trump as he made a bedside visit to her hospital room.
“He was very comforting and like a father figure … I feel like a lot of people have negative views about him and what he posts on Twitter and social media; and he was absolutely a different guy today in the hospital,” said Huizar.
Each time one of these mass shootings comes along so do the gun-control advocates wanting to ban guns in all 50 states and do away with the 2nd Amendment that constitutionally guarantees the right to own guns in America. That’s what far-left Democrats want, but as we all know Americans will not be giving up their guns anytime soon.
The monthly gun death toll in Chicago – mostly due to drug and gang activity — routinely numbers 50 to 60 people, but little is being done to quell the violence in the Windy City. On average, some 90 people are shot dead every day in America in small towns and big cities in all 50 states. There are roughly 400 million guns, including 5 million assault rifles, currently in possession by Americans and gun manufacturers are producing new guns every day.
As our law makers in Washington debate gun control issues, nobody seems willing to face the truth that they are all too late. Meaningful gun control in America should have started more than 100 years ago, but it didn’t. Now guns are so out of control they will likely never be brought under control. If Washington thinks they can legislate the U.S. out of this gun mess they are sadly mistaken.
About the Author
Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.
Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.
