Deadliest Mass Shooting in US History: 50 dead in Las Vegas

[BmorePat87]

(10-06-2017, 12:51 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: No.  How many murders, out of the around 10k per year, are committed by legal gun owners who own "large amounts" of guns?  If it's over 100 I'd be shocked.  Most years I'd be willing to bet it's under twenty.  Legal gun owners do not account for the vast majority of gun related crime, this is a basic fact.  This is also why gun related laws have almost no effect on gun related crimes, because they only effect people who follow the law.  

This also ignores the fact that the number of guns you own doesn't make the guns you own more lethal.  Does the soldier on the battlefield carry five guns on them?  No, they all carry one, some have a sidearm (officer and senior enlisted?)  You carry one gun and ammunition for said gun.  Also not accounted for by people who know nothing about guns, ammunition is heavy.  The infantry have a saying about this: "rounds equal pounds and pounds equal pain."  One reason for the original adoption of the 5.56mm round is that it weighs less.  Try lugging your shotgun out for a long range day, your ammo bag is going to be unpleasantly heavy.  The Vegas incident is about the only type of incident in which having multiple firearms increasing your ability to inflict lethal injury.  The only parallel type of incident I can instantly recall is Charles Whitman at UT.

One of the things I ask when one of these shootings occur is "would gun laws have prevented this?"

Many times the answer is no, but the fact that this occurred resonated more with us than a poor person of color getting killed, so we use this as the catalyst for requesting changes. I guess that's why I always fall back on, let's focus on the mental health component. 

Though I will say that we shouldn't depend on wealthy donors to fund research on the pathology of gun violence.