More than 50 people have been killed and more than 200 hundred injured in a mass shooting at a Las Vegas open-air concert. The shooter, firing from a nearby hotel, is now dead. Making it more deadly than the Orlando gay nightclub attack in 2016 which left 49 dead, and the worst ever in US history. More mass shootings occur in the USA, 31% of the global total, despite only having 5% of the world’s population.
There’s no indication yet of the motives behind it, but often they are domestic or caused by mental instability – and made easy by access to guns.
The USA is certainly having a gut-wrenching year and tr Uranus is exactly square the USA Pluto at the moment, which has been inflaming tempers and anxiety all year, exacerbated by the heightened concerns over the August Eclipse, Trump and the devastating hurricanes and flooding. Tr Saturn just off the opposition to the USA Mars is now in a neurotic square to the USA Neptune.
Up in the heavens, Mars is still on the destructive, brutal trine to Pluto, almost exact when the shootings occurred. Late September into mid October was always going to be nerve-stretching and risky.
Las Vegas was founded on 15 May 1905, giving it an indulgent and successful Sun Jupiter in Taurus in an exuberant, gamblers’ opposition to a vengeful Mars in Scorpio; with a highly-strung Neptune opposition Uranus, trine/sextile Saturn. That chart has the Solar Arc Mars conjunct Saturn at the moment; with the Solar Arc Saturn conjunct the LV Pluto – so accident-prone and bleak. Tr Uranus has also been zig zagging across a conjunction to the Venus in upfront Aries, which would heighten emotional tensions, bringing unwelcome surprises.
The NRA which vehemently defends gun-ownership in the US is looking undermined at the moment with the Solar Arc Sun conjunct the NRA Neptune, though that might also double-up on their delusional zealotry. They are under pressure in the next few years; with increasing restrictions on their scope in 2018 with tr Saturn conjunct their Saturn Mars in Capricorn and square Venus all year; but it’ll be 2020 to 2023 which sees the real upheaval for them with tr Uranus conjunct their Pluto and opposition their Sun. Though it is a genie which will be exceptionally difficult if not impossible to get back in the bottle. After mass shootings, gun ownership goes up.
Wasn’t the ‘Right to carry arms’ amendment designed to enable a militia to be raised in the event of an invasion? Something that was put in place for historic reasons has been hijacked by the Macho gun lobby and taken as an absolute right, totally out of context. The writers would be turning in their grave to think that their words had led to the use of semi automatic weapons on innocent people. To hear the apologists for the current gun laws speak yesterday was stomach churning, with statements such as ‘people have always slaughtered each other, its people not guns that kill!’ . If only Trump would realise that the single biggest thing he could do to ‘put Americans First’ would be to change this ridiculous state of affairs. Never going to happen but it would be great to see him try to roll back these laws and would actually give him a place in the history books for all the right reasons. It is terrible what has happened, but a Government that promotes the carrying of guns by citizens is exposing its people to acts of random violence and is complicit.The National Rifle Federation lobbyists have blood on their hands,
The 600lb gorilla in the room is that in US it’s possible for a seriously mentally ill person ( not necessarily in this case but in general) to acquire with ease a ferocious arsenal of extremely powerful weapons, to do with as he wishes. Very regrettably it seems inevitable that this kind of carnage will keep repeating in America and that nothing will change. I’d love to be wrong, but am not holding my breathe.
I’m reminded of the Texas Tower shooter in 1966 – someone with no particular agenda. Simply shooting at anyone and everyone.
It’s as well in these breaking stories not to leap to conclusions or pick up every bit of wild nonsense from whatever source. Let the dust settle and it’ll become clearer. On the face of it at the moment, it doesn’t look like a terrorist act. He was local, reasonably well off and his Indonesia/AU partner seems to be a bit of a red herring.
From Reuters, local police are struggling to uncover a motive. People who knew the shooter claimed he was settling into retirement. Could be he was lashing out/acting out with rage against those who appeared “better off”. The shooter is dead, so no way to ask him. Unless thru a medium.
Has come out that he was a multimillionaire.
His girlfriend is originally phillipino and lives in Australia
I remember staying with my brother in Atlanta – he’s now a US citizen and finding a handgun in his drawer. The ammo was beside it. My brother and I grew up in a quiet Derbyshire town but since he moved to the US he became an active supporter of the right to own firearms. Sorry Americans but it scared me silly. My brother is not the most emotional steady of people especially these days. You know what I’m sayin…..
Ragnar1
We do not know that yet! Stop it!
Thank you, Marjorie. So true about the difficulty of getting the genie back in the bottle. There are, after all, gazillions of guns owned by private citizens in the U.S. Re the NRA’s projected upheaval come 2020 – 2023, that’s the most positive news I’ve heard in a long time.