27-year-old Telemachus Orfanos was a survivor of the worst mass shooting in modern history that happened in Las Vegas in October 2017. Then, 13 months later, Orfanos was killed in the latest mass shooting that happened inside a bar in California. Himself and 11 others lost their lives.
A number of survivors of that shooting [Las Vegas], the worst in modern US history, have said they were at the bar on Wednesday.
“My son was in Las Vegas with a lot of his friends and he came home. He didn’t come home last night,” his mother told ABC News.
His mother went on to say that she wants gun control.
“I don’t want prayers, I don’t want thoughts, I want gun control”, she said.
This is a delicate situation, as many people have lost loved ones due to the terrible acts of one person. That person, whom we will not identify, had been checked for his mental health condition and deemed an unlikely threat.
I could never, and hope to never, put myself in this mother’s shoes, but I can still say with certainty that gun control is not the solution.
There is no certain way to judge the mental well-being of everyone, and many times there are not red flags that really stand out. The firearm used was a pistol, which the suspect equipped with a larger-than-standard-capacity magazine. That ‘high capacity’ magazine is something that is already banned in California.
We keep coming to the question of; What is the answer to stop these mass shootings from continuing? It’s a 3-part process and it’s not a simple one.
- Somehow get the media to agree not to publicize the names, details or photos of the suspects. This will turn these infamous killers into unknowns, which will deter many of them from committing the acts in the first place. After the assault, they want their names and stories to be known.
- Provide better and more effective mental health services. Our country has a habit of kicking people to the curb who are truly in need of these services. It’s an in-and-out deal in the majority of cases, with no real long-term treatment or monitoring.
- Promote responsible carry of firearms. It’s been well documented that the presence of an armed citizen or police does in fact have an impact on these mass shootings. Typically, the suspects give up or kill themselves when confronted with armed resistance. They’re not looking for a fight. But if we have more people to bring that fight to them, their chances of success decrease dramatically.
It’d be a start.
