Death In Vegas

More American Gun Violence,
and The Glamorization of Madness

by Bob Yunger

Stephen Paddock, the Law Vegas shooter and local resident, retiree, professional real estate investor with an estimated personal net worth of 5 million dollars, gambler, former mail carrier, I.R.S. agent and accountant, killed 59 people from his large thirty-second floor Mandalay Bay corner suite. Another 500 or more ended up wounded or injured. More may eventually die of their wounds, hard to say. Many will likely succumb to an early demise down the road due to the trauma and depression of disability resulting from being shot. But let’s not give Paddock full credit as a gunman for all 500+ injured. Those hurt from being trampled by other concert goers don’t count as much, and some just fell as they ran, twisting an ankle or hitting a knee or spraining a wrist. So let’s say Paddock wounded half with his bullets. Add that to the 59 killed and you have an estimate of 309 struck. He was shooting for about 10 minutes. Some say 9, others say 11. That’s about one victim every two seconds. And we know from the recorded audio on video that he took breaks. Still more reason to marvel. Wow. Modern firearm technology is mightily efficient. That one man could dispatch such damage in so short an interval is nothing short of breathtaking. Good job NRA. Good job!

People should stop describing Stephen Paddock as a “madman” and a “psychopath”. His actions in Vegas were sociopathic and that of a baddy but fully thought-out and rational. He exhibited careful planning throughout his life and then even at the end, at the last, when he saw he was going to get caught, he demonstrated he knew the gravity of his act by killing himself as a way of escaping paying for his crime. These were the actions of a full-on asshole, but not someone who had lost his mind. He knew right from wrong and appreciated full well the consequences of his deeds. He was a 64 year-old, angry, retired, rich asshole who took care of his girlfriend, had lots of success in very competitive businesses, possessed plenty of governmental licences and endorsements, yet got tired of this world and wanted to make a notorious exit while taking out lots of other people with him. The tragic part is that in our society, given his social status and the current laws, he had plenty of means to do it, and do it SPECTACULARLY.