Next I hung around outside the Mandalay Bay, across the street from the concert venue. From my vantage point, I could easily see the two broken windows on the 32nd floor and I realized that from the windows to the venue was about 500 yards. Pretty far away.

It was about 40 hours or so after the massacre. The streets were still blocked off. Cops and police cars where everywhere. And so were tourists, looky-loos like me, media, lots of people with cameras… and based on my impression, pretty much everyone was appropriately subdued. If this were a different video, I’d make some joke here about everyone being subdued except this one douche from UNLV whose sunglasses were on the back of his head, who was doing tap hits off a keg in the back of his roommates F-150 while burping the lyrics to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it off” — But, I’m not going to do that… It wouldn’t be appropriate.

I stood on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd more than an hour. I kept looking from the street to the broken windows… and back across to the concert venue. I tried to figure out what the fuck would possess a guy to massacre so many people. Because some how, we think if we know his motivation, we can intervene the next time we someone exhibiting similar ideas or motivations.

Just two nights prior, right where I was standing, a horrific scene unfolded as a sick mother fucker sprayed thousands of rounds of bullets on people who were just out listening to country music. I know a few guys who served during combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan. What they told me about being the target of gun fire sounded exactly like what I saw from cell phone videos on CNN that people made while running for their lives.

How do gun owners reconcile this? That a night of country music in Las Vegas, America — can in an instant, turn into a gun battle like in Fallujah or Baghdad, or Basra?

Of the many things I thought about on that corner, the chaos, the death, the war on American soil — One thing in particular stands out: *this* particular massacre could have been prevented… if there was a law that prevented people from owning long barreled rifles equipped with high volume clips…

The Mandalay Bay room where the guy was shooting from is nearly 500 yards from the concert. Those rifles with the long barrels that fire more powerful ordinances are designed to shoot long range and still be deadly.

Most handguns would not be effective at killing people so far away. For one thing, most hand guns use magazines with just 8 or 10 rounds… the AR-15 the mother fucker used had a magazine that could hold between 60 and 100 rounds. Plus, he added this thing called a “Bump Stock” that made his semi-automatic weapon fire like it was an automatic. Meaning, more bullets leave the barrel in the same amount of time. So, he could kill more people.

AR-15 Designed To Be Deadly

Also, the AR-15s rounds are designed to be lethal at long distance — the slug is heavier, more aerodynamic and packed with more gun powder… hand gun rounds are specifically designed to be deadly at close distance. They lose a bunch of their effectiveness at long range. Their trajectory is less easily controlled over long distance and the result of their impact is less effective the further it has to travel.

Sure, if the mother fucker was in the Mandalay Bay window with a dozen hand guns, he could have killed a few people. Yes. But he’d have to change magazines more often, which would slow him down, plus, hand guns are more likely to jam as a result of shooting in rapid fire succession and the rounds he did get off would be both less accurate and less deadly given the long distance.

The bullets in the AR-15 are also designed intentionally to do catastrophic damage when they hit human flesh. During the weapons development stages, the gun designers discovered that heavy rounds just passed through human flesh, doing some damage, obviously, but not catastrophic. So, the caliber and design of the bullet were changed. The ammunition used now is lighter, and more aerodynamic. When human flesh is hit by an AR-15 round, rather than just passing through, it bounces around inside the human body, causing lethal damage to organs and capillaries, that doctors are unable to repair.

Now, gun advocates argue that if a crazy person wants to do something crazy, he’ll figure out a way. Instead of a gun, he can pack a car with explosives and drive it into the venue…

The thing is, the venue is set up to deal with that scenario. They have a fence around the concert. Barriers are set up at points of egress. Cops are there to direct traffic.

Then they say if a person uses a car to kill a bunch of people should we ban cars?

The thing is… cars have an alternative purpose other than a receptacle for explosives… Guns are designed to do one thing and one thing only. Kill.

Gun advocates also say things like: “A crazy person could have a knife.” Yes. He could. He could run around a crowded concert and probably stab a few people… That’s true. And a few people might die. But again, that scenario has been considered. There are metal detectors at the front gate, guards inside the venue… and people are generally prepared to act and intervene to stop a mad man with a knife.

Again, the gun lobby asks: “if a guy kills someone with a knife, are we going to ban knives?” Again, I say that a knife’s primary purpose isn’t to kill… It’s been precisely engineered to have a reflective surface, so women can use it to check if their lipstick is smeared or if they have spinach in their teeth.

Let me digress for just a moment and tell you about what was going on inside the Mandalay Bay less than 48 hours after the massacre that occurred partly on the 32nd floor of the hotel we were standing inside of… but mostly it occured less than 200 yards across one street with 8 lanes. 4 in each direction.

Inside the hotel, the shooter killed himself, but not before firing over 200 rounds at an unarmed security guard, wounding him in the leg.

Outside, the shooter managed to kill 58 people and injure nearly 500 more.

Inside the Mandalay Bay, It was MUCH less crowded than it would be on an ordinary Tuesday night… I overheard the staff at the check in desk say they were like 70% below capacity.

Huge sections of the casino were as empty as gambler’s wallets… while a few sections were bristling with activity — gambling, smoking, and negotiating with prostitutes.

The restaurants and bars were doing business.

A band played, drinks were slung and people danced.

I thought it was weird.

Is that what is supposed to happen? People just get back to doing… otherwise the terrorists win? Maybe that is what is supposed to happen. But, I still thought it was weird.

Around midnight, I went back outside — to the street corner across from the concert. By this time, traffic was now moving in both directions, and some of the barriers were down, opening up streets that were closed. I just sat there. I talked to a few cops. A few tourists.

On Wednesday, President Trump arrived.

While I stood outside with all the other media, I got to thinking again about how the fuck do you prevent battle scenes like in Fallujah…because if we do NOTHING, it says that in exchange for millions of lawful gun owning Americans to have near limitless access to weapons we are prepared to tolerate the increasing number of horrific massacres that will occur… when someone with the same limitless access guns decides to murder concert goers, nightclub patrons, office workers and school children.

Americans have talked ad-nauseum about tiny fixes at the margins: better mental health programs, silencers, magazine sizes, finger print controlled triggers,

A Few Things We Can Do RIGHT NOW To Reduce Gun Violence

1. Remember lawn darts? Lawn darts was a game where you threw a large heavy dart up in the air… and aimed it at a target way down over there. Well, these darts had heavy metal spears on one end… and well, a bunch of people threw them up at a target, but had terrible aim, and they came down on the heads of children. Killing them.

It took a few years, but the US Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the sale of Lawn Darts. This product, when you even attempt to use it properly, sometimes kills kids.

So — with that, you have to ask yourself, how come guns which when used properly… kill an average of 93 people per day, isn’t regulated like lawn darts.

The answer is simple: The Lawn Darts people weren’t a multi billion dollar industry, they didn’t have a powerful lobbying group in the NRA advocating for them, and they weren’t protected by the 2nd amendment.

Also, when the Consumer Product Safety Comission was authorized during the Reagan Administratin, it was specifically prohibited from regulating or interfering with the use or sale of firearms.

Ad guns to the list of consumer products regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

2. And that’s not the only protection gun makers have over other industries. In 1996 Congress passed The Dickey Amendment, a law that prevents people who are killed or injured with a firearm from suing the gun maker for negligence.

Demand that congress Repeal the Dickey Amendment.

3. Another law says that the NIH and CDC can’t spend gov’t money to research gun violence. How does having LESS information help people make decisions that affect their lives?

Demand that this ban that prevents research be lifted so Americans can better understand gun violence.

4. If you drive a car, you need insurance. Why don’t gun owners have to have insurance? Or get a license? Too many gun deaths are the result of improper use or negligence… If people had to pay for insurance, perhaps they’d be incentivized to be more careful.

Demand that gun owners pay for insurance.

5. Demand that congress pass laws that improve coordination among states to determine if individuals are stockpiling weapons — those people should get a visit from law enforcement.

6. Demand congress pass a law that makes credit card companies report multiple gun purchases.

None of these suggestions will prevent law abiding gun owners from owning as many guns as they want for protection, hunting and sport.

However — they will each do something to help us prevent future massacres.

Jon Hotchkiss has lost at the Emmys 14 times. Like the facebook page to get new videos 2–3 times per week. Or, visit him on the web. And watch the video above for more details and visuals.