Well, we also lack any proof that there was a political or ideological element as of now.
Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Hasn't stopped people trying to claim he could totally be an Islamic convert.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I doubt this guy would be a convert to ISIL, unless and ISIL flag was found in his home. I am inclined to believe that he is more of the anti-government type.
Collector Of Fine Oddities
Police so far say they have no evidence of any link to extremist groups of any variety yet, with the police head stating “We have no idea what his belief system was.”
Reuters cites an anonymous official stating "There was reason to believe that Paddock had a history of psychological problems."
God this is awful :(
I do hope the inevitable gun control debate will actually be fruitful this time, though I doubt. If nothing happened when Obama was power, I doubt Trump will voluntarily incur the wrath of the NRA
The thing is all those guns that he obtained were obtained illegally. So, in other words, it wasn't because of NRA or lax gun control, but the black market.
The black market has to get its dakka from somewhere.
Y'know.
Just saying.
Still not embarrassing enough to stan billionaires or tech companies.
While a small percentage of black market arms probably does come directly from the manufacturers and smugglers overseas, the majority is probably from people who bought their weapons legally, found out a few years later that they have no use for them, and decided to just sell them off-the-record or stolen from people who don't secure their weapons properly.
edited 2nd Oct '17 10:22:26 AM by danime91
By the audio, at least one weapon was firing full auto, which are heavily regulated in the US.
To turn to another aspect of this though, his being a white, non-Muslim American citizen means that this much less likely to be spun as a terrorist incident, which is good because we all know how the Trump admin would react if it had been otherwise.
Maybe I just have a different perspective because I'm Canadian and most of our illegal firearms get smuggled from the US because they're just easier to get there
A procrastination in of itself
X5 Your ignoring the fact that the NRA supports the black market by blocking laws that would crack down on it and blocking enforcement and investigation into existing laws.
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
Actually no, apparently it wasn't full auto.
It was semi auto modified with a completely legal trigger crank aftermarket modification.
Oh really when?
From what I've read, it seems the crank is a model similar to 19th-century Gatling Guns. Apparently, they're not very popular as they make the gun hard to shoot accurately.
edited 2nd Oct '17 3:24:45 PM by TheWildWestPyro
ISIL is trying hard to get credit, just like Manila and Khabarovsk.
He didn't need to shoot accurately to hit 50 people in a crowd of thousands...
coolest_guy
If there's no political or religious motivation, then no, he's not a terrorist. You may not like that, but that's the definition people go with. Just going around massacring people isn't enough. Else we'd slap every mass shooter with the "terrorism" label.
A procrastination in of itself
We do label every mass shooter with a particular religion a terrorist.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
coolest_guy
Sure, because they did it because of religious or political reasons.
We don't use the label just to use it. If someone literally says they're doing it for X reason, that's terrorism.
Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
Well, terrorism has no widely-accepted definitionnote —and that's likely to remain the status quo. Not to mention the definitions that do exist amount to war of aggression on an individual scale or "everyday" crime so long as one shouts the buzzwords during.
That's most of the usefulness and danger of the word. Stateside you could probably apply the label to street gangs and (earlier this year) university students and probably just about any serial killer who's not in it for the money. The word stretches.
It turns out the angle in the Las Vegas shootings might be too similar in what happened last June in a Manila casino: some guy loses a pile of money in a casino, and proceeds to do their insane crime.
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/vegas-carnage-unavoidable-security-experts-013331048.html
There's a renewed debate on setting up strict measures similar to what Manila and KL (IIIRC) has.
Oh, bother.
Sources?
Because if that's true...yeesh, that's almost as stupid as the motive I was considering: that maybe this asshole really hated country music.
Disgusted, but not surprised
I suspect this stems from his brother's report that he routinely played high-limit video poker.
He may have been breaking up with his girlfriend as well.
but he's not a terrorist, he's white, that makes him a "lone wolf" according to the police
advancing the front into TV Tropes