Thoughts and Prayers, and Nothing Else

We've had yet another mass shooting, with the highest death toll yet for a single killer. (If you count various forms of race riots and Indian massacres, the death toll is not so remarkable)

At first, it sounded like fireworks — a loud, crackling noise. Then the awful realization began to spread, unevenly, through the huge crowd.

It dawned on people when they heard screams, when they saw bloodied victims collapse around them, or when others stampeded for the exits, trampling some of the people in their way.

Many of the terrified concertgoers followed their instincts and crouched or lay flat, not realizing that they remained exposed to a gunman lodged high above them. Others surged into surrounding streets and buildings, leaving behind debris lost in the panic — drink cups, shoes, and cellphones that kept ringing for hours, as relatives and friends tried to reach their loved ones and find out if they were safe.

By sunrise on Monday, the staggering toll at an outdoor country music festival on a cool desert night was becoming clear: at least 59 people killed, the police said, and 527 injured, either by gunfire or in the flight to safety.

A lone gunman perched on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino had smashed the windows of his hotel suite with a hammer, taken aim at a crowd of 22,000 people, and committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Late on Monday, law enforcement officials said they still had no idea what the motive was.

The gunman had 17 firearms, including a handgun, in his suite, according to Sheriff Joseph Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. And when the police searched the shooter’s house on Monday, “we retrieved in excess of 18 additional firearms, some explosives, and several thousand rounds of ammo,” Sheriff Lombardo said. He added that they also found ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer sometimes used in making bombs, in the gunman’s car.

God bless America, huh?

Of course, we will be in the politicians, "Thoughts and Prayers," but I expect nothing meaningful to happen.

Here's hoping that NRA President Wayne LaPierre mishandles a gun and shoots his own testicles off.

Naah ……… I'm not bitter.


See full Tom Tomorrow cartoon here.