Quote:
Originally Posted by Osem
In this case it does seem he planned this very carefully for reasons still unknown but most gun incidents in the US are the result of unplanned arguments, disputes etc. which get out of hand and if the weapon at hand happens to be an automatic rifle as opposed to a handgun obviously there's likely to be many more casualties than if it isn't.
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This is exactly it iMO.
Adding guns to everyday life is just dangerous and allows this to escalate quickly. As you said everyday arguments can get out of control, there are many cases of children 'playing' with these weapons and shooting others, people thinking there is an intruder in the house and shooting their relatives. Adding a gun to high stress situations is a recipe for disaster. As we've also seen routine police stops are fraught with risk in the states because the cop, race issues aside, doesn't know if the person in the car has a gun.
And even the criminal element is helped by having high availability of guns. It's not impossible that, had there been tighter control, Stephen Paddock would still acquired this weaponry but had it been harder it might have helped and increased the chances someone would spot something amiss.
There is no risk or hindrance to those with criminal intent from being armed in the states. Most of the time they've only broken the law once they follow though with whatever it is they plan to do. It may not be impossible in Europe to acquire weapons but it's a lot harder and they commit a crime by attempting to get them, increasing the risk they get exposed before they do anything.