Mass shooting in Las Vegas. 50+ dead

[Brian37]

This excerpt is from the Wiki entry on the Texas Tower Sniper:

Texas Governor John Connally commissioned a task force to examine the autopsy findings and material related to Whitman's actions and motives. The commission was composed of neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, pathologists, psychologists, and the University of Texas Health Center Directors, John White and Maurice Heatly. The Commission's toxicology tests revealed nothing significant. They examined Chenar's paraffin blocks of the tumor, stained specimens of it and Whitman's other brain tissue, in addition to the remainder of the autopsy specimens available.
Following a three-hour hearing on August 5, the Commission concluded that Chenar's finding had been in error. They found that the tumor had features of a glioblastoma multiforme, with widespread areas of necrosis, palisading[further explanation needed] of cells. and a "remarkable vascular component" described as having "the nature of a small congenital vascular malformation." Psychiatric contributors to the report concluded that "the relationship between the brain tumor and [...] Whitman's actions [...] cannot be established with clarity. However, the [...] tumor conceivably could have contributed to his inability to control his emotions and actions", while the neurologists and neuropathologists concluded: "The application of existing knowledge of organic brain function does not enable us to explain the actions of Whitman on August first."
Forensic investigators have theorized that the tumor may have been pressed against Whitman's amygdala, a part of the brain related to anxiety and fight-or-flight responses.


I'm old enough to remember this shooting.  It was a BFD 'back in the day' and unfortunately the time line for getting the above information was rather long.  I note the similarity of the height of the gunman's perch in both mass shootings, and further, the shooter today is old enough to remember Whitman's assault too . . .

I mentioned this particular shooting to Tibs this morning when I heard, not because of the height, but because of the lack of obvious motivation, and the later diagnosis of a brain tumor. I would not be surprised to learn that this man had something severely wrong with him that wasn't just pure evil. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if he was just evil either.

The Kent state shooter back in the 60s had a brain tumor. Still a moot point to me. 

The sane need to stop allowing media to use motive as a distraction.

When a person with a brain defect gets a gun, it is still an issue of access.
When a criminal gets a firearm it is still an issue of access.
When a mentally ill person gets one like the Va Tech shooter, it is still an issue of access.
When a racist like Roof gets one, it is still an issue of access.
When a Muslim, like the Pulse shooter gets one, it is still an issue of access.


And even without taking mass shootings into account, the bulk of firearm deaths happen in the home or with someone the victim knew.

We have 36,000 firearm deaths per year on average. Mostly suicides, accidental, and domestic violence, between spouses, dating and neighbor on neighbor. 

So while funding mental health issues is important, ease of access is also a problem.