Las Vegas

When I turned on the TV at 11 as I ate my lunch, I was shocked to find out that over 50 people had died and over 500 were wounded from this heinous shooting in Las Vegas last night.  The shooter was like a sniper, shooting from a window from his hotel room, at a group of people watching a country music performer sing.  He planned it days in advance, building up his pile of weapons and ammunition as he came and went to and from the hotel.

It amazed me at how calculating and methodical this criminal was.  They still don't know the motive, only how he managed to do it.  Unless he leaves something behind on social media or a last will and testament, we may never know.

For sure people will have spiritual explanations as to why this happened.  But that doesn't satisfy me.  I know people are capable of evil choices that can be influenced by evil forces in the world.  But people are still accountable to their actions.  We still make choices and we must take responsibilities for them.  Apparently, the killer's father was a criminal and diagnosed with mental illness. Even if the shooter had a supposed mental illness, that is no excuse.  Lots of people are mentally ill.  They don't kill people.  

So as I said, there is no excuse.  Yes, there does seem to need to me more gun control, as this criminal had a long-range gun.  It seems to stop these attacks from getting worse, or from lessening the impact, we need to be proactive and reactive.  There obviously needs to be stronger security in Las Vegas in general anyways.  In any large and populated tourist area there needs to be security.  When we went to Disneyworld, our bags were always checked, we always had to check our wristbands, which had all our personal info on them, and we had to scan our finger.  I had never seen so much security in all my travels.  But that was OK with me.  I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I don't believe in full gun control, but I do think the general public does not need such powerful weapons that can kill multiple people at a time.  But of course, there are other ways to kill people, with homemade bombs, chemical attacks, even a vehicle.  9-11 was caused by planes and tons of gas.  No weapons there, yet almost 3,000 people died.  The conclusion is that people kill people. 

I'd like to say we can prevent and stop this.  We can to some extent, but then again, there is only so much a human can do.  But as a I heard on KTIS radio today, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 

We can pray, turn to God, read His Word.  We can say something if we see something.  We can stay aware and be ready to defend the defenseless.  We must be united as Americans, and work together to stop the stem of violent attacks.  For 30 years ago as a child, these things never happened.  Now they happen far too often.