Santa Barbara and all of America grieves with Las Vegas. We extend our expressions of condolence to the families of the victims and people of Las Vegas. Every parent who has lost a child or a family member to gun violence relives those wrenching moments of their loss whenever there is another shooting; the angst remains forever.
Three members of our community were victims of the massacre. Denise Cohen of Carpinteria and Derrick Bo Taylor of Oxnard were among the 58 people killed. The couple each have two grown sons. Additionally, Dr. Brian Mack and his wife, Lara Cerrito Mack, from Santa Barbara were both wounded by the barrage of bullets fired randomly into the crowd.
Calls are emerging for long-neglected violence prevention gun laws, urging the GOP-controlled Congress to take action to prevent similar massacres.
“This must stop. It is positively infuriating that my colleagues in Congress are so afraid of the gun industry that they pretend there aren’t public policy responses to this epidemic,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference. It’s time for Congress to do something.”
“If the Republican leadership of Congress and this president continue with their moral and intellectual abandon, California has and must continue to chart the path of rationality,” California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “I urge statehouses across the nation to look closely at the work we’ve accomplished here, through the legislature and the ballot box, and act.”
The shooter, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, unleashed a hail of bullets from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff Joseph Lombardo.
Police said that more than 22,000 people were at the concert when Paddock began firing round after round, shooting from above into the concert area below, directly at the crowds of people on the ground as exposed targets. The rapid fire from automatic assault weapon-style continued for almost 11 terrifying minutes before the shooter was discovered by a security officer, who Paddock wounded before committing suicide.
Police believe he smashed two windows of his room with a hammer before he began firing. The gunman was found with an alarming arsenal of 23 weapons, some modified with bump-stock devices that converted semiautomatic weapons into automatic weapons. Also found were scopes, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and large capacity ammunition devices, which could be legally purchased in Nevada. He brought this arsenal into the hotel in multiple suitcases.
Murder by gun has become a political issue because the National Rifle Association has successfully created and enforced that concept through intimidation. Congress is unable to pass the universal background checks and a ban on large ammunition clips that 90 percent of Americans want because politicians are intimidated by the NRA and not influenced by the river of tears that flows from the literally millions of Americans affected by gun violence. Voices crying out, from Sandy Hook parents to Gabby Giffords, for reasonable gun violence prevention laws in Congress have been silenced, buried by the millions spent by the NRA to continue manufacturing highly dangerous killing instruments.
Asked why gun control measures such as universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines have failed to gain traction, U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal responded: “Horrified by reports from #LasVegas that yet another mass shooting has claimed innocent lives. My thoughts are with those victims and their loved ones. Thank you to our first responders and medical teams, who bravely put themselves in harm’s way to save lives in the wake of this tragedy. While we grieve, we must also realize that offering only words and thoughts is not enough. Our nation is facing an unprecedented gun violence epidemic, and Congress must take action to implement commonsense safety measures.”
Those of us who continuously work to find ways to reduce gun violence know that it is not enough to grieve and offer prayers for stricken families. This is a public health and safety crisis; we must take a stand because we are all touched by gun violence.
Make a difference. Join the Coalition Against Gun Violence. Stand up, speak out and resist. Click here for more information. The coalition also can be reached at sbcagv@gmail.com.
— Toni Wellen is chairwoman of the Coalition Against Gun Violence.