在刚刚过去的周末，就是2017年10月1日晚上，一名罪犯在拉斯维加斯制造了美国史上最惨烈的枪击案。罪犯在其所居住的曼德勒海湾度假村和赌场的32楼房间内，向聚集在拉斯维加斯大道上正在欣赏收获音乐节的大约30,000人群开枪扫射。目前已经造成至少有59人遇难，超过527人受伤。警察赶到其房间时，罪犯已经自杀。具体的案情还有待于警察调查，但从遇难的人数来看，可以肯定这次枪击所造成的悲剧，已经超出了以往任何一次。遇难者亲友的伤痛自不待言，对于普通美国民众的心理冲击也会非同小可。至于喜爱射击运动群体的拥枪理念，恐怕更是一个巨大的震撼。
另据综合报道，拉斯维加斯警方证实，已经被警方击毙的枪击案嫌犯名叫斯蒂芬·帕多克 (Stephen Paddock)，现年64岁，住在美国内华达州的麦斯奎特(Mesquite)，有犯罪记录并被当地警方熟知。目前可以肯定的是，这是一次精心预谋的杀戮。媒体援引帕多克的兄弟埃里克·帕多克的话称，“绝对没有迹象显示他会做出这种事”，如果各位回忆一下的话，这种话绝对应该不陌生，几乎是对每个犯下骇人听闻罪行的恐怖分子的常规的事后描述。
但好像情况也不会那么简单，此人9月28日入住音乐会所在广场对面的Mandalay Bay酒店的32层，挑了一个角度最好的房间。携带了12支枪，其中肯定包括M60之类的机枪。其心思之慎密头脑之冷醒，都不同于可以想像的那些丧心病狂。但是在采访中，其关系非常亲密的兄弟透露，根本不知道也不能想象老哥会搞到自动武器，更别说杀人了。
当地警方表示，自杀身亡的嫌犯应该是唯一一名袭击者，不过，警方已经找到并正在询问一个名叫Marilou Danley的亚裔女性，被描述为该嫌犯“伴侣”和“室友”，但表示没有证据显示该名女子也参与了袭击。
毫无疑问，这次的枪击案件会再一次引发关于禁枪这个并不陌生的题目的爆炸。就在众多民众，特别是不幸的亲友们还没有伤痛中缓过神来的时候，政客们已经在准备彼此攻击的砖头了。其实冷静想一想就会知道，无论如何不管怎样，表演的各方各得所需，最后的结果绝对还是一样。记得奥巴马总统时期康涅狄格州西部纽镇的桑迪-霍克小学的枪击案，20名5-10岁孩子被杀害，更觉得惨绝人寰。当时的总统竭力推动禁枪，结果是枪支销售量突飞猛进。各类枪支弹药几乎都是供不应求，军火商赚了个钵满盆盈。
其实如果说都怪总统，好像也不很公平。觉得今天所有的一切，都是传统使然加上人心的败坏。不知道还有多少人能记得赶飞机提前半小时就可以的时代，更不用脱衣解裤带。其实只要不傻，都知道这是怎么一回事，应该干掉哪些人。可惜民主牌坊加上自由特权，政府几乎成了把选票当小费的特种服务人员，只要有恩客，绝对会奋不顾身。关键是拿着选票的人群，已经逐步从当年的清教徒，转化成了流氓无产者。非有罪大恶极的元首那样的铁腕，恐怕再不足以力挽狂澜。当年南郭先生就在所杜撰的《竞选总统》中调侃说，以后所谓的公平和民主，可能都不仅仅局限于美国大学的录取比例了。说不定将来监狱里面也会实行同样的政策，就是各个种族都贡献出同样比例的人员去进监狱服刑。想出来这个主意把自己都下了一跳，幸好当前只是处于无稽之谈的阶段。
不幸的事情刚刚发生，更加不幸的事情是我们几乎无能为力。这是以前拍到一的张照片，题目叫做”你们还有完没完？”，恐怕更能反映多数人的心情。
下面列出来的美国近几十年以来最为惨痛的枪击事件，其中不幸程度的记录，一再被突破。威风八面，不可一世美利坚，可以用几百万美元的导弹，打击价值十几美元的帐篷去消灭隔着地球的敌人，可自己的人民却好像在子弹面前，无处藏身。
(CNN) – When a gunman opened fire on a crowd gathered for a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip last night, he killed at least 50 people — making the Sunday night incident the deadliest mass shooting in the United States.
Here is a list of the 10 deadliest single-day mass shootings in U.S. history from 1949 to the present.
If the shooter was killed or committed suicide during the incident, that death is not included in the total.
The Harvest Music Festival At least 50 killed
Oct. 1, 2017 – A gunman, identified as 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, fired from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, on a crowd of 30,000 gathered on the Las Vegas Strip for the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured. Officers killed the gunman.
Pulse nightclub 49 killed
June 12, 2016 – Omar Saddiqui Mateen, 29, opens fire inside Pulse, a gay nightclub, in Orlando. At least 49 people are killed and more than 50 are injured. Police shoot and kill Mateen during an operation to free hostages officials say he was holding at the club.
Virginia Tech 32 killed
April 16, 2007 – A gunman, 23-year-old student Seung-Hui Cho, goes on a shooting spree killing 32 people in two locations and wounding an undetermined number of others on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. The shooter then commits suicide.
Sandy Hook 27 killed
Dec. 14, 2012 – Adam Lanza, 20, guns down 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults, school staff and faculty members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. — before turning the gun on himself. Investigating police later find Nancy Lanza, Adam’s mother, dead from a gunshot wound.
Luby’s Cafeteria 23 killed
Oct. 16, 1991 – In Killeen, Texas, 35-year-old George Hennard crashes his pickup truck through the wall of a Luby’s Cafeteria. After exiting the truck, Hennard shoots and kills 23 people. He then commits suicide.
McDonald’s in San Ysidro 21 killed
July 18, 1984 – In San Ysidro, California, 41-year-old James Huberty, armed with a long-barreled Uzi, a pump-action shotgun and a handgun, shoots and kills 21 adults and children at a local McDonald’s. A police sharp shooter kills Huberty one hour after the rampage begins.
University of Texas 18 killed
Aug. 1, 1966 – In Austin, Texas, Charles Joseph Whitman, a former U.S. Marine, kills 16 and wounds at least 30 while shooting from a University of Texas tower. Police officers Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy shoot and kill Whitman in the tower. Whitman had also killed his mother and wife earlier in the day.
San Bernardino 14 killed
Dec. 2, 2015 – Married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik open fire on an employee gathering taking place at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, killing 14 people.
Edmond, Oklahoma 14 killed
Aug. 20, 1986 – In Edmond, Oklahoma, part-time mail carrier Patrick Henry Sherrill, armed with three handguns, kills 14 postal workers in 10 minutes and then takes his own life with a bullet to the head.
Fort Hood 13 killed
Nov. 5, 2009 – Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan kills 13 people and injures 32 at Fort Hood, Texas, during a shooting rampage. He is convicted and sentenced to death.
There were several other incidents in which 13 people were killed:
April 3, 2009 – In Binghamton, New York, Jiverly Wong kills 13 people and injures four during a shooting at an immigrant community center. He then kills himself.
April 20, 1999 – Columbine High School – Littleton, Colorado. Eighteen-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold kill 12 fellow students and one teacher before committing suicide in the school library.
Feb. 18, 1983 – Three men enter the Wah Mee gambling and social club in Seattle, rob the 14 occupants and then shoot each in the head, killing 13. Two of the men, Kwan Fai Mak and Benjamin Ng, are convicted of murder in August 1983. Both are serving life in prison. The third, Wai-Chiu “Tony” Ng, after years on the run in Canada, is eventually convicted of first-degree robbery and second-degree assault. He is deported to Hong Kong in 2014.
Sept. 25, 1982 – In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 40-year-old George Banks, a prison guard, kills 13 people including five of his own children. In September 2011, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturns his death sentence stating that Banks is mentally incompetent.
Sept. 5, 1949 – In Camden, New Jersey, 28-year-old Howard Unruh, a veteran of World War II, shoots and kills 13 people as he walks down Camden’s 32nd Street. His weapon of choice is a German-crafted Luger pistol. He is found insane and is committed to a state mental institution. He dies at the age of 88.