What can be said about the Las Vegas shooting massacre that left 59 people dead and hundreds more injured at an outdoor concert that has not been thoroughly discussed and dissected not only by the American public but by anyone who got wind of the tragedy and fears that it may happen at their doorsteps anytime?
The Philippines is no stranger to this kind of attack as the June 2 violence instigated by lone gunman and suspected casino enthusiast Jessie Javier Carlos at Resorts World Manila showed.
Unlike the Vegas attacks, however, more victims died of suffocation than the actual shooting, though Carlos supposedly gunned down two casino financiers inside a car prior to his Resorts World Manila attack.
Here in Cebu, perhaps the last recorded incident of seemingly random gun violence involved a Canadian named John Pope who killed a lawyer and a court employee before turning the gun on himself in a Cebu City court four years ago.
In these three incidents, all three assailants met their end at their own hands. As to whether or not they acknowledged the horror and evil they wrought on others who did them no wrong nor harmed them in the first place, we will never truly know.
What we do know is that people died at the hands of other people who had easy access to firearms. In the case of the Resorts World Manila attack and the Las Vegas shooting massacre, both assailants had high-powered firearms at their disposal.
As of last count, the US police counted more than 50 firearms at the disposal of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, who sprayed gunfire at the victims in the comfort of his 32nd-floor room at a Mandalay Bay hotel.
Like all shooting massacres dating back to Columbine, the Las Vegas shooting was swift and unexpected. The victims were attending an outdoor country music festival and had no idea that someone out there, perhaps with a grudge and unresolved anger management issues, is planning to rain down bullets on them.
And it appears there is a Filipina-Australian connected to the tragedy, considered as the deadliest shooting attack in US history, as American authorities are investigating Paddock’s rumored companion Marilou Danley a person of interest after she received thousands of dollars in a wire transfer from Paddock.
As the story continues to unfold, the Las Vegas tragedy reminds one and all about the danger posed by loose firearms. In the US, the incident sparked off a new debate on gun ownership and how high-powered firearms can be easily bought even without background checks.
In Cebu City, there is a proposal to allow plainclothes police to bring firearms into hotels and other commercial establishments in order to deter gunmen like Carlos.
Let us pause and consider whether our government is doing enough to protect us from those armed lawless elements and prevent a tragedy like the Las Vegas massacre.
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