1 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: You place your left hand on the bay and Bible 2 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: and raise your right hand and repeat after me. I 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: solemnly swear jury trying it attended this weekend in Ferguson 4 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: and around the country's resisting your It makes no sense 5 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: if it doesn't fit your must equip judge. You are 6 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: the last line of reason in this case. Every one 7 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: of us took it all the sas and we're scorn 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,160 Speaker 1: to a poll of the Constitution. From Tenderfoot TV in Atlanta, 9 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: this is sworn. I'm your host, Philip Holloway. This episode 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: is dedicated to the memory of the lives lost in 11 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: the October one mass murder in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's 12 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 1: also dedicated in honor of the first responders and Seville 13 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: and heroes who prevented this from being any more terrible 14 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: than it already was. The uncomfortable truth is that mass 15 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: murder has been around as long as human kind. We'll 16 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: explore the question of whether anything could have been done 17 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: to prevent this tragedy in Las Vegas, while we also 18 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: explore and break down the Second Amendment and what the 19 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: Supreme Court has told us that the Second Amendment means. 20 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: Joy six nine. We got shots fired for day and 21 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,759 Speaker 1: bringing any one. So I'm like, I'm out a fire 22 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: up because that when you signed dammy shop, I'll start 23 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: generally me. I'll play off like a shot gun. I'll 24 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:09,959 Speaker 1: play up Drols. We have a we have an acre room, 25 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: brave and the whole ward got the audience of the 26 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: thirty sickond floors. One has explosive breach everyone and know 27 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: how I need to lose it back. All units move back. 28 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: We need the air flare for Debra. Twenty one suspicked 29 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: down inside the room. Twenty one s picked down inside 30 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 1: the room. There's one down, thirty sick animal day. On 31 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: the night of October one, America experienced an unspeakable tragedy, 32 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: the largest mass shooting in modern US history and the 33 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: most fatal attack on our soil since September eleven, two 34 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: thousand one. A gunman named Stephen Paddock opened fire on 35 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: the audience at the Root Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. 36 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 1: Our hearts go out to the friends and the families 37 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: of any and all of the victims. Our deepest condolences 38 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: are extended to those who lost their lives and the 39 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: loved ones they left behind, and our greatest hope is 40 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: for a swift and full recovery for everyone who was injured. 41 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: Up to this date, the US mass shooting with the 42 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: most fatalities was in Orlando, Florida, at the Pulse nightclub 43 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: in June of The shooter in that case was Omar Matene, 44 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: who killed forty nine people and wounded fifty eight at 45 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: the least. With mass shootings like the Las Vegas massacre 46 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: at the forefront of everyone's mind, I'd like to take 47 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: this opportunity to discuss the topical issues at hand. This 48 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: tragic incident has brought a lot of attention to the 49 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: ongoing political discussion of gun control laws and terrorism and 50 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: what can we do to protect ourselves in situations like this. 51 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: Of course, this podcast is not a political discussion, and 52 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: it's not our intention to make it one. But this 53 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: is also a real part of the criminal justice system, 54 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: and so it's relevant and appropriate for us to discuss 55 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: the issue of mass murder. So to tie this into 56 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,039 Speaker 1: the greater theme of SWORN, I'll be discussing the issues 57 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: that have risen in the media since the Las Vegas massacre, 58 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: and I'll be discussing them through the lens of legality. 59 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,600 Speaker 1: Would gun control laws helped prevent this situation from occurring? 60 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: How else would gun control laws affect us as a country. 61 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: Why isn't this labeled as domestic terrorism? Some people think 62 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: that it should be. However, federal law defines terrorism as 63 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: the use of violence to intimidate or coerce a government 64 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: or civilians to influence policy. So if this isn't that, 65 00:04:56,400 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: then what is it. Here's Sworn producer Meredith Steadman with 66 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: a more detailed look at the events of the tragedy 67 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: of October one in Las Vegas. The sadness surrounding the 68 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,679 Speaker 1: events of October one has been inescapable. The Las Vegas 69 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: massacre has permeated our news outlets, as it should given 70 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: the devastating circumstances. Because there's been such constant coverage, it 71 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: can be hard to keep the facts straight. We wanted 72 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: to give you a brief overview of what information has 73 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: been disclosed. The perpetrator of this massacre was sixty four 74 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: year old Stephen Craig Paddock. Paddock, who lived in multiple 75 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: places throughout the course of his life, was currently a 76 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: resident of Mesquite, Nevada, about an hour from Las Vegas. 77 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: He was an accountant and a real estate investor, successful 78 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: enough to sustain his gambling hobby, which brought him to 79 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: Las Vegas fairly often. Paddock suggested that his girlfriend Mary 80 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 1: Lou Danley go to the Philippines two weeks before the 81 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: incident occurred. He bought her a plane ticket and later 82 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: wired her a thousand dollars. She said she had no 83 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: knowledge of his plans or of any mental health issues 84 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: that he may have been struggling with. Paddock's brother, Eric Paddock, 85 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 1: said the same. The massacre began just after ten pm 86 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: on Sunday night. From his room on the thirty second 87 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort. Paddock opened fired into 88 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 1: the crowd at the Root Harvest Music Festival during the 89 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: set of country singer Jason al Dean. Paddock has smashed 90 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:30,359 Speaker 1: out the window of his hotel room with a hammer. 91 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: Prior to shooting, Paddock placed cameras in and around his room, 92 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: one in the people in, two in the hallway to 93 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: monitor the hallways for security personnel. He had twenty three 94 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: rifles in the hotel room and one handgun. Twelve of 95 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: the firearms were altered with bump fire stocks, which allow 96 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: semi automatic rifles to function as fully automatic weapons. After 97 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: a search was conducted, nineteen more firearms were found in 98 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: Paddock's home, along with explosives in severn a thousand rounds 99 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: of ammunition. Ammonium nitrate, often used in homemade explosives, was 100 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: found in the trunk of his car. Paddock was found 101 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: dead in his room with a self inflicted gunshot wound 102 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: to the head. His motive is still undetermined. People were 103 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: killed in this incident, with over five dred injured. This 104 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: is now the largest mass shooting in modern UN's history, 105 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: surpassing the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. Good afternoon, is 106 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: this Dr Wilki, Good after day and how are you today? 107 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: Doing great? How are you sir? Well? I think all 108 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: things are fine, looking forward to a nice week in 109 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: the weather. Would you mind starting by letting us know 110 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: just a little bit about who you are and identifying 111 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: yourself please? I served in the Atlanta area as the 112 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: chief of police of the City of Aca George up 113 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: in cop County for right at ten years twenty five 114 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: years total in the law enforcement field, before retiring six 115 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: years ago to go on exactly at Bob Jens University 116 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: I've be in Greenville, South Carolina about James Is as 117 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: a Christian College, and I teach in our criminal justice section, 118 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: graduate the FBI National Academy, hold a doctoral degree in 119 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: public administration from Baldosta State University. For most of my 120 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: time as a as a law enforcement officer, I also 121 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: served as a police firearms instructor. How long have you 122 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: been teaching firearms? How many years total teaching firearms? Probably 123 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: somewhere in excess of twenty five years, and in terms 124 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:43,000 Speaker 1: of handling films, something excess of fifty years. Does that 125 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: include what's commonly referred to as assault rifles as well, 126 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: that misnomer that is given to platforms such as the 127 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: a R fifteen. Yes, I do handle those firearms and 128 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: have shot them and have instructed in them. How about 129 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: fully automatic weapons? I'm not certified and fully automatic weapons 130 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: handled a number of them, both in the civilian law 131 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,959 Speaker 1: enforcement in the military context. I'm not actually certified to 132 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 1: teach that particular file. So we want to talk about 133 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: what happened in Las Vegas. I'm sure you've been following 134 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: the news, and one of the topics that I want 135 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: to talk about first is go back and explain why 136 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: you said the term assault rifle is a misnomer place 137 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: that term is applied to some way that we've made 138 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: in funt arms such as the ALE fifteen, the a 139 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: K four seven similar firearms like that that are long 140 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: rifles that have a magazine capacity, usually in excess of 141 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: ten rounds in the magazine. That's worthing. The term assault 142 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: rifle really essentially showed about nowhere as far as I'm concerned, 143 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:57,079 Speaker 1: is a essentially a media term that has been handled 144 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: and given to a number of different firms platforms such 145 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: as the a R fifteen, a K forty seven, and 146 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: other rifles that will handle magazines that have capacity of 147 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: more than ten rounds or so your average hunting rifle 148 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,319 Speaker 1: magazine on the hulls somewhere around three to five rounds, 149 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: depending on what the state allows for hunting purposes. Pretty 150 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: much anything over that, the media has just started calling 151 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: them assault lines, which is I don't think really an 152 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: appropriate term now. As a civilian and as a firearms 153 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: instructor and as an advocate frankly for the Second Amendment, 154 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: I think that there's the question that if you begin 155 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: to limit the types of access that civilians in this 156 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,600 Speaker 1: country can have to firearms to an a K forty seven. 157 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: That's the camel sticking its nose under the proverbial tent. 158 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: And you just have a whole population that just does 159 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: not trust where the government will stop on that sort 160 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:57,679 Speaker 1: of thing. And I think that the answer is not 161 00:10:57,800 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: to go after the gun. The answer is to go 162 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: after the violin. And if you have people in this 163 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: country who commit crimes while they are armed, that's where 164 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: our most serious penalties need to be, and to take people, 165 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: put them in jail and leave them in jail if 166 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: they committed a crime and had a firearm on their person. 167 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: In the middle nineteen nineties, we began incarcerating people seriously 168 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: in this country who had committed serious felts and we 169 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: took them out of the pool of being able to 170 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: commit additional crimes. And since the middle nineteen nineties, across 171 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: the country, violent crime has plummeted because we are taking 172 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: the repeat offenders out of circulation. They couldn't do their 173 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: crimes anymore. We put them in jail, We put them 174 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: in a place where they cannot harm people. In South 175 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:51,959 Speaker 1: Carolina alone, since ninet, violent crime has dropped over and 176 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: that statistic is fairly well mirrored across the country. That 177 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: gives us a pretty good answer right there. Take the 178 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: people who couldmit gun crime, put them in jail, and 179 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: leave them in jail. And I commented to this group 180 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,959 Speaker 1: that to date to that day, a couple of weeks ago, 181 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando ranked as the highest 182 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: mass shooting that we had in the United States. But 183 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,040 Speaker 1: I told that as I said, but don't worry. There's 184 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: someone out there right now who was thinking about the 185 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: Fulse nightclub shooting and saying to themselves, I'm going to 186 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: go set the new record and long behold. Two weeks 187 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: or so after I made that statement, someone comes along 188 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: and does what this individual did and killing all of 189 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,119 Speaker 1: those people. When the Second Amendment was drafted and adopted, 190 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: basically they were dealing with muskets, and obviously an air 191 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: fifteen is much more powerful than a musket. So back 192 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,880 Speaker 1: in that day, you know, if they wanted to, they 193 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: could afford one. They could own a cannon out in 194 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: the backyard instead of shooting skip that's our cannonballs if 195 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: they wanted to. I'm saying that someone is just, but 196 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: I'm also seeing it to make a point exactly what 197 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: the militaries have in terms of their firepower and their weapons. 198 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,000 Speaker 1: This is exactly what the civilians were entitled to have 199 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: under the Second Amendment. It would be not that difficult 200 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:14,679 Speaker 1: to take a semi automatic firearm of any nature and 201 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: converted into an automatic firearm. It would not be that 202 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: terribly difficult to do that with anything, which when you 203 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: stop and think about that, if that's what happened, and 204 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: I don't know that that's what happened, all the details 205 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: not at yet, but if that's what happened with demand 206 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: few is responsible for shooting all those people in Las Vegas, 207 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 1: then he already demonstrated going to break the law to 208 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: do what he did. What law can we pass that 209 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: would have stopped that? Well? As us needed. The District 210 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 1: of Columbia as a model policy and model city ordinance 211 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: that prevents the distribution and ownership firearms and restricts them 212 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: and so forth. And that's why the District of Columbia 213 00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: has one of the lowest Oh wait a minute, no, 214 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: it don't. The District of Columbia, even with their stringent 215 00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: laws that were founded in a constitutional has one of 216 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,439 Speaker 1: the highest NERD routes for Capola in the country, so 217 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: let's go out to it. How about the city of Chicago. 218 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,839 Speaker 1: They have some pretty good ordinance there. They're restrictive on 219 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,679 Speaker 1: gun possession and ship and that's why they have some 220 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: of the lowest crime rates and the nerd Wait, wait, no, 221 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: they don't. They have some of the highest actions of 222 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: gun violence and murder in the country. I'm not sure 223 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: that we can come up with the law because of 224 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: those that we have on the bucks have not been 225 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: factored in deterring gun violence. And that's why I'm contending, 226 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: you know, the focus ought to be on the offender, 227 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: not on the firelar. You do any kind of crime 228 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: with a gun, then you have demonstrated a willingness to 229 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: use that gun and kill somebody. The mere fact that 230 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: you have it with you when you're committing a crime 231 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: shows that you're willing to use it. Maybe you didn't 232 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: use it when you robbed that bank. Maybe you can't 233 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: shoot anybody, but you had it with you. And you 234 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: know why, as a society, we are not going to 235 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: give you that chance again. We're gonna take you and 236 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 1: put you in jail, put the rest of your natural life. 237 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: What would you advise people to do in the event 238 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: of an active shooter if they find themselves, you know, 239 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: in a situation like we saw in Las Vegas. There 240 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: are a number of different training systems that are out there, 241 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 1: but most of them come down around three fundamental things 242 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: that an individual should do if they find themselves subject 243 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: to an active shooter. And the number one thing that 244 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: is recommended by in the training systems and I think 245 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 1: by law enforcement as well, this is on the FBI website, 246 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: is to run, at the minimum, create a moving target. 247 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: It's hard hit one that is moving than it is 248 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: to quiet wom that is just simply standing there. But 249 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: get out of there, run as fast as you can 250 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: and remove yourself from the scene. That's the number one 251 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: recommendation from all circles. Secondly, if you cannot run, perhaps 252 00:15:57,040 --> 00:16:00,200 Speaker 1: the shooter is somehow between you and you and an 253 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: egress from the building, your point of exit from the building. 254 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: If you cannot run, then you hide, hide under something, 255 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: Barricade yourself in a room, lock the doors, turn out 256 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: the lights, get furniture in front of the door, making 257 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: yourself as a flat on the floor as you can't, 258 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: and be absolutely silent and hide because maybe as the 259 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: shooter moves to the building looking for victims. Maybe he'll 260 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: miss you because you are well hidden. But then failing 261 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: that you can't run and you can't hide, or perhaps 262 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: the shoot find you. Your last option is to fight, 263 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: and by fighting, that means you offer everything you've got 264 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: to try to stop that shooter from killing you or 265 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: injuring you or someone else. At that point, it's your 266 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: life against the life of the person who's a sailing 267 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: and you throw everything you possibly have at that individual 268 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: to stop them. If you happen to be an armed citizen, 269 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: you know, someone who is authorized by your perspective state 270 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: to carry your fireing on your person, if you have 271 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: the opportunity to engage that individual with that firearm, then 272 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 1: you would certainly do so to try to protect yourself 273 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: and others. That's not something you want to do in 274 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 1: the middle of your church congregation with six hundred people 275 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 1: standing around, or as Philip and I've talked about in 276 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: the past, and you know, maybe crowded movie theaters or 277 00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,320 Speaker 1: places like that, that just limits your options because you 278 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: cannot go shooting in there, you know, and take a 279 00:17:25,119 --> 00:17:28,399 Speaker 1: chance on on missing and hitting an innocent person. You 280 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: fight for your life because your life is on the line. 281 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:37,600 Speaker 1: You cannot legislate evil into non existence. Let's be clear 282 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 1: about one thing. Sworn is not a political podcast, but 283 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: we cannot forget that there are lots of people whose 284 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,480 Speaker 1: opinions differ from Mike Wilkis. On the other side of 285 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 1: his argument. There are also those who believe that gun 286 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: restriction is truly the only way to see a definitive 287 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: decrease in these tragedies. For a differing viewpoint, we talked 288 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: to Antoine Seawright, a Democratic strategist who, like Mike Wilkie, 289 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: is from South Carolina. So just to give your background, 290 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: I'm a political consultant and one of my clients was 291 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: killed in a church two years ago here in South 292 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: Carolina is the state Senator Clemente Pinkney. And I don't 293 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,440 Speaker 1: know if you remember when Dylan Ruth, the white terrorists 294 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: who killed nine people in the church here in South Carolina. 295 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: Clemented the past of the church was my client. It's 296 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: a simple thing we called the Charleston loophole. His background 297 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: check in the time period did not come back, but 298 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: they still sold him the gun. And so had there 299 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: been a law in place that says, look if the 300 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,239 Speaker 1: background check does not come back within three days, then 301 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: you can't purchase a gun. Then perhaps he never would 302 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:43,640 Speaker 1: have been able to have a gun to shoot nine people. 303 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 1: So my name is Antoine ce Right. I own a 304 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: public relations, advertising and political strategy firm called Blueprint Strategy, 305 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: is based here in Columbia, South Carolina. I've done from 306 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: a pain perspective. I've probably been involved in well over 307 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty campaigns and well over a hundred 308 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: ballot initiatives represent a number of political entities as well 309 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: as elected officials, from members of you guys Congress on 310 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: down to dog Catcher. I also am on Fox News 311 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: on occasion to provide some political commentary, and I have 312 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: a radio show. Can we just go straight into it 313 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 1: and have you explained to us your standpoint on gun 314 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: control us. Well, first of all, let me just say 315 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: my thoughts and prayers are with the families and the 316 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: community of Las Vegas, because when one of our brothers 317 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,920 Speaker 1: and sisters in this country are hurting or have feel 318 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:47,000 Speaker 1: some sort of pain, I think we all hurt. And 319 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 1: it's very tragic. What happened one of the largest killings 320 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: on record, and I call the massacre is very unfortunate 321 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,359 Speaker 1: that the person who shot and kill these people and 322 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,280 Speaker 1: injured so many others has not been labeled as a 323 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: domestic terrorist. There's another shooting, and here we are having 324 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: another conversation about gun laws. Yet some of my Republican 325 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: friends and Republican leaders say, as soon as these things happened, 326 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: not the time. Well we've had almost a week now 327 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: in between the incident and we still have not had 328 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,440 Speaker 1: a legislative conversation about gun control laws. And one could 329 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: argue that, oh, well, we don't need more gun control laws. 330 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:31,760 Speaker 1: We just need to pray for our country, or we 331 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: just need to deal with the people who have been 332 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: committing these crimes because they have mental issues, and we 333 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,680 Speaker 1: can keep making excuses. But the more excuses we make, 334 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 1: the more people literally will die on American soul, not 335 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: by anyone from any country that Mr Trump proposes Muslim 336 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: band form, but these are homegrown American terrorists. So with 337 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: Las Vegas specifically, do you think that it could have 338 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: been prevented? Absolutely, But we have learned so far is 339 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: that one perhaps change in the law to deal with 340 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: bump stocks could have perhaps prevented this is happening. We 341 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:16,080 Speaker 1: also spoke with Kim Alfano, a parent and GOP strategist. 342 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,919 Speaker 1: She told us about a personal experience with a shooting 343 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: close to her daughter's school. Even as a representative of 344 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,520 Speaker 1: the Republican Party and their candidates, she believes that there 345 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: are some modifications that could be made to existing gun 346 00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: laws that might increase everyone's safety. I'm Kim Alfano. I 347 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: own a political media consulting firm on the Republican side 348 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: for twenty seven years now. I also worked in education 349 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: advocacy and education reform advocacy, criminal justice reform advocacy, and 350 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: do some types of things like that on the side 351 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: versus just candidate work and raise my daughter. Speaking of 352 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: your daughter, could you tell that story and then kind 353 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: of tied into your thoughts on gun control? When might 354 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: it was in first grade? It was shortly after Sandy Hook. 355 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,920 Speaker 1: We lived in downtown Alexandria, Virginia, right outside DC. She 356 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: went to an adorable little public school. They were outside 357 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: playing on playground, and the playground is kind of It's 358 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:16,959 Speaker 1: a very pedestrian city. It's not, you know, like being 359 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: in downtown New York. But it's also not like being 360 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: in the suburbs where the schools are kind of off 361 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,520 Speaker 1: in a field. There are people walking by at all 362 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: times and cars and things, and their playgrounds sort of 363 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: fenced in by three sides, and the kindergarten and first 364 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: graders were all out on the playground at that moment, 365 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,880 Speaker 1: and she happened to be back by the back part 366 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: of the fence that sort of faced the neighborhood street 367 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: and was playing on the swings and there was a 368 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: guy who had committed some crimes and was I guess 369 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: he was walking through the streets of Alexandria. Basically officer 370 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: little boy whose children had gone to Belas School, so 371 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: he was very familiar to the kids at the school. 372 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: He happened to pull this guy over and he walked 373 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:00,680 Speaker 1: up to the car. He didn't realize this guy had 374 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: committed a crime. He wasn't looking for him. I think 375 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: he pulled him over for a traffic violation and the 376 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: guy had pulled out a gun and shot him point 377 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: blank in the head. And he was on the other 378 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: side of the car from the kids. You know, there 379 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: was basically the road the sidewalk, and the kids are 380 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: inside the fence, so some of the kids were right 381 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: up against the fence he was luckily on the other 382 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 1: side of the car, so they didn't see everything go down. 383 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 1: But basically, you know, my daughter said she heard pops 384 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: because she had her back to it. She was swinging 385 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 1: on the swings, and some of the kids said they 386 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: heard something, you know, heard like a bag thud. So 387 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 1: basically it was the officer falling down like some really 388 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: smart teachers heard it, realized what was going on, grabbed 389 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: all the kids. They all were brought inside. They were 390 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:47,880 Speaker 1: locked down in the gym. Again, this is right after 391 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: Sandy Hook, so everybody was completely on edge anyway, locked 392 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: him down, They did the drill where they all had 393 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:56,919 Speaker 1: to sit in the gym, and then there was an 394 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: email sent out to parents, Hey, we're locked down. Here's 395 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: the situation as we know it. And then probably about 396 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: thirty five minutes later, they realized it was an isolated incident. 397 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: They had gone to catch the guy. He fled. The 398 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: metic Metavac helicopter landed in the schoolyard to take the 399 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 1: police officer off to the hospital, and the kids were 400 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: out of their sort of Jim lockdown by then, so 401 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:18,920 Speaker 1: a lot of them looked out the window and saw 402 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: that happening. They kind of didn't, you know, since such 403 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: little grades it's in elementary school, they didn't really tell 404 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: him what was going on, but a lot of kids 405 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: sort of pieced it together, and then about o'clock we 406 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,680 Speaker 1: were alligable back in the level. I know hunters, I 407 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:38,360 Speaker 1: know clients who are staunch advocates of the Second Amendment, 408 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: and I understand why they are, and I know them 409 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,159 Speaker 1: to be good people. So I had never been a 410 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: huge advocate one way or another on it. But I 411 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: was never such an anti gun person. I know so 412 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: many responsible people who have guns, but when that happened, 413 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,160 Speaker 1: I was terrified. Now, my my thoughts didn't run towards 414 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: why does that guy have a gun? Because it was 415 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: a you know, a gun that was it's common, It 416 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: wasn't a machine gun. He didn't shoot up the school, 417 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: he didn't do anything. But just how can this stuff 418 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,680 Speaker 1: happen right near my kid? You know, what's the world 419 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: coming to? Where the suburbs and the Bucolic you know, 420 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: rolling hills of our neighborhoods are now kind of up 421 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: for grabs. In the case of Oklahoma City, in the 422 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 1: case of this guy that shot officer lit boy, in 423 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 1: the case of Sandy Hook, it was all mental health. 424 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 1: There are people out there that are hurting, that are 425 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:28,680 Speaker 1: not getting help, and they go down these rabbit holes 426 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: and do not come out, and we have tragedies as 427 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,960 Speaker 1: a result. I know, the guy in Las Vegas, there 428 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,879 Speaker 1: wasn't any indicator that anything that that would have popped 429 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: on a background check, on mental health background check, but 430 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:44,960 Speaker 1: clearly he's mentally unstable because he shot up a lunch 431 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: of people. So I think stronger mental health, stronger education 432 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: about spotting and understanding when people are in difficult situations, 433 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: you know, with the opioid crisis, you know, mental health 434 00:25:57,359 --> 00:26:00,959 Speaker 1: and addiction counseling, all of that, I think is how 435 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: you answer this. It's not necessarily a gun law because 436 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: of the people who own all those guns. Everybody's freaked 437 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,960 Speaker 1: out about don't commit crimes. You know, we hear about 438 00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: these outrageous, sensationalized ones. But in you know, Illinois and 439 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 1: Chicago where there's horrifying gun violence, it's happening with illegal guns, 440 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 1: and they have strict gun laws. So gun laws don't 441 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: prevent gun crime. It's criminals and the unstable people using guns. 442 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: About Oklahoma City, somebody with a car and some fertilizer 443 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 1: killed three times as many people as occurred in you know, 444 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,680 Speaker 1: Las Vegas. Not to diminish what happened in Las Vegas, 445 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,520 Speaker 1: but anyone with evil intent, where an unstable mind will 446 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: find a way to create a weapon. So solving this 447 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: or that issue. Obviously, bump stocks need to be addressed. 448 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: Nobody wants people out there with automatic weapons. And there's 449 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,359 Speaker 1: some pretty common sense things, but you're not getting to 450 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: the underlying cause. How do you think we become more 451 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,679 Speaker 1: proactive in addressing mental health issues? Where does that come 452 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: in in play when trying to purchase a firearm? I 453 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 1: just knee jerk reaction, as a mom would be. There 454 00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: needs to be some sort of element of the background 455 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: check that allows for part of the process of get 456 00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: I mean, if I want to be a daycare worker, 457 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,680 Speaker 1: you do a mental health check on me, right, So 458 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 1: if I'm gonna have a gun, you should be able 459 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:29,359 Speaker 1: to do a mental health check. I mean, now to 460 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 1: keep that record. I get how gun rights advocates are saying, no, 461 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 1: you can't build a database of those of us with issues, 462 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: So the record goes away, just like the background check 463 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: goes away. It doesn't get stored anywhere it doesn't get kept. 464 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 1: There's gotta be a way to at least screen out 465 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: the low hanging fruit of people who have been in 466 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: mental health treatment before, or who have been cited for 467 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: domestic violence, or who have been cited for any number 468 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: of things. Like I said, I work on education reform issues, 469 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: and I work on criminal justice for warm issues. Weal 470 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: there's two places right there that nip issues in the butt. 471 00:28:05,720 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: Kids that are caught in horrible cycles of poverty and 472 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: dependence and lack of a good education, so there's no 473 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: way for them to get out of that cycle. Those 474 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:17,919 Speaker 1: are kids that are gonna get sucked in the neighborhoods 475 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:19,679 Speaker 1: and become drug dealers. Those are kids that are going 476 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: to become parts of gangs, that are going to become 477 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,239 Speaker 1: parts of violence. Let's give them the opportunity to get 478 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: out of those situations and break that cycle for their family. 479 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,119 Speaker 1: And so the kid that's nineteen that gets picked up 480 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,480 Speaker 1: because he has you know, drug paraphernali in his car 481 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 1: and goes to prison for five years or eighteen months 482 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: or whatever it is, is in a prison for eighteen 483 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: months with a career professional drug dealer who could teach 484 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: them how to cook meth, And who's going to indoctrinate 485 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: him into a gang in those eighteen months, And who's 486 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: going to get them in the into a cycle where 487 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: someone had given him drug addiction treatment. Send him to 488 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: a boot camp. That kid might turn around and have 489 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: a productive life. So another place to sort of hide 490 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: and help you bowl just your criminal justice reform. Instead 491 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: of putting them into the system. Let's find ways and 492 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: treatments and and put some government money into helping people 493 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,560 Speaker 1: with addictions and with mental health issues. I'm not sure 494 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,320 Speaker 1: there's a gun law that we could have passed in 495 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: the wake of that that next day. And I think 496 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: anyone Republican Democrat, if you had a heart in your chest, 497 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: if someone said this is something that would stop this 498 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: from ever happening again, gun rights advocate or not, you 499 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 1: would have said, let's do it. But I don't think 500 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: that there was any one thing that anyone could point 501 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: to that would have said this will never happen again. 502 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: I don't know what the answer is, but I'm not 503 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,960 Speaker 1: sure the answer is to say, you hunter in New 504 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: Hampshire can't have a gun, you know, I mean, after 505 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: all these truck deaths and like we saw in Charlotte. 506 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: So do what you say. You can't have cars? I mean, 507 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: how do you address the underlying problem by just focusing 508 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: on the equipment. Mason stopped by a local firearms store 509 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: to walk us through the steps of buying a gun. 510 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: If I were to come in here, I'm gonna a 511 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: bunch of the stools, shotguns, see a RS on the wall. 512 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: What process would it be for me to buy again? 513 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,880 Speaker 1: All right? So, first and foremost, if you even want 514 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: to come in here and hold a gun, you got 515 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: the eighteen for a long rifle. You gotta twenty one 516 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,320 Speaker 1: for handguns. Check your i D. Make sure you got 517 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: valid driver's license, carry permits something. If you have no 518 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: government issued i D with that current address, I can't 519 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,479 Speaker 1: even let you do that. If you want to actually 520 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: buy something, you gotta at least have a valid driver's license. 521 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 1: You've got to be of age, and you've gotta have 522 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: a current address on your government achieve documentation, so you 523 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: know if you have a driver's license INSE valid. Even 524 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: if you got a carry permit, if nothing's got your 525 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: current address on it, I can't sell you anything. Once 526 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: you've got all that, all that checks out. We gotta 527 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,040 Speaker 1: sit you down and do some seventy three paperwork which 528 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: basically fill out you know, your name, place of birth, address, 529 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,960 Speaker 1: all the kind of pertinent information. Are you the actual 530 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: buyer of the gun? Where you ever unlawfully and are 531 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: you wanted for a felony or you a fugitive from 532 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: justice where you ever dishonorably discharged. All that kind of 533 00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: stuff will disqualify you just like that. On top of that, 534 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: if you don't have a carry permit, we have to 535 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: run a background check on you. And if that doesn't 536 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: come back, you can either get delayed or denied, and 537 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: you can you can just get let go, depending on 538 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: how the background check goes. But that's the part that 539 00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,880 Speaker 1: kills a lot of sales is someone will come in 540 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 1: put their background check in, it will get sent to 541 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,360 Speaker 1: the FBI, and the FBI I'll be like, don't do 542 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: it right. You mentioned age, So what age is it 543 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: to buy a firearm. There's certain type of firearms I 544 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: can or cannot buy a certain age. At eighteen years old, 545 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 1: you can buy long rifles and shotguns. At years old 546 00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: you can buy handguns. And that's pretty much it for age. 547 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,240 Speaker 1: So in eighteen year old with the proper identification and 548 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,040 Speaker 1: checks out coming here and buy an a R. The 549 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: problem in an eighteen year old would have to come in, 550 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,680 Speaker 1: have their proper identification and have I do with their 551 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: current address and everything, have their background check go smoothly, 552 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 1: no problems, no delays, no hold ups. If everything went perfectly, 553 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: we could have them out here the same day. But 554 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:16,080 Speaker 1: that's provided everything went perfectly. We as the sales people, 555 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: have the ultimate authority to cancel any sale. We don't 556 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 1: necessarily have to have a reason. It can be I'm 557 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: getting a bad vibe from this situation, I don't want 558 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: to sell this. We don't have to. We can go 559 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: to a manager and to be like, look, we're not 560 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: doing this. The big, huge red flags, some of the 561 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:35,960 Speaker 1: really obvious ones are if somebody comes into the store 562 00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,040 Speaker 1: and gives money to somebody else and that person is 563 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,480 Speaker 1: buying the gun. So as a as a gun a salesman, 564 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: you would say, how do you advise to do the 565 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: best sale to make sure you're putting a gun in 566 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: the right person's hands. As a gun salesman, it's pretty 567 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: much just gauge whether the person knows what they're talking about, 568 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,680 Speaker 1: if they seem inexperienced, if they don't seem to really 569 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,560 Speaker 1: know what they're doing. They're like, have you ever shot 570 00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: a gun before? Do you have much practice? Do you 571 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: go to the range very often? And if the answers 572 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:02,600 Speaker 1: to any of those questions are, hey, no, I don't 573 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:04,960 Speaker 1: really know what I'm doing. You know, Georgia Firing Line 574 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,120 Speaker 1: is right down the road. They're building a complex right 575 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: across the street. There's Wild West Traders in Austell. No 576 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 1: matter where people are coming from, I can generally say, 577 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,720 Speaker 1: there's a range near you, and they offer rental guns, 578 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: so go out there rent a gun. You know, they 579 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 1: offer safety courses as well. Like my dad works over 580 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,680 Speaker 1: a while West Traders in Austell and he teaches safety 581 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,000 Speaker 1: courses there. So I can say, hey, sit down with 582 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:29,880 Speaker 1: these people and now at least give you a rundown 583 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,480 Speaker 1: of what you need to know. But here it's like, look, 584 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: we're selling guns, so we have to make sure it's 585 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 1: done safely, that we go through the proper channels, and 586 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 1: that we avoid any bad situations. Mason asked if it 587 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: is anywhere difficult to bind a R versus afore ten. 588 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:48,800 Speaker 1: The man said, besides cost, no, you just need to 589 00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:52,040 Speaker 1: be a teen. To give some perspective, in this country, 590 00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,320 Speaker 1: you have to be twenty one to drink, but at 591 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: eighteen you can walk around with an air in public. 592 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,720 Speaker 1: Even with current regulations, it turns out it is pretty 593 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: easy to purchase. Again, probably easier than it should be. 594 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: One debate that has surfaced since the massacre in Las 595 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 1: Vegas is what do we label this? Is this an 596 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:12,320 Speaker 1: act of terrorism domestic terrorism? What exactly is the difference. 597 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: We discussed this topic and more with Rebecca Grant, highly 598 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: experienced national security and military analyst. My name is Rebecca Grant. 599 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: I have a PhD and international relations. I'm a national 600 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:27,920 Speaker 1: security analyst and defense consultants here in Washington, d C. 601 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: After an incident like this, the first question in people's 602 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:35,840 Speaker 1: minds could there be any link to known terrorist groups? 603 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 1: So one of the first questions is they begin to 604 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: identify a perpetrator is to look and see in this case, 605 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,759 Speaker 1: were there any links to ISAIS a lot of confusion 606 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 1: occurred when ISIS decided to take advantage and claim that 607 00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: they had been responsible in some way for this event. 608 00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,200 Speaker 1: There's done no corroboration of that. That was just the 609 00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:03,719 Speaker 1: terrorist being very very opportunistic. So right now we have 610 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 1: not heard of any ties between Haddock and a designated 611 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 1: terrorist group, or at least a designated international terrorist group. 612 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:18,000 Speaker 1: And the crazy thing was that ISAIS had issued one 613 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:20,920 Speaker 1: of its periodic warnings a few days before this took place, 614 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: saying that citizens in big cities of the world Paris, 615 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:29,759 Speaker 1: Los Angeles, etcetera. Should really take cover and not go 616 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:34,719 Speaker 1: out in public. So that non specific warning had popped up, 617 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,400 Speaker 1: and I think for some people there was an immediate 618 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 1: question of, oh my gosh, was this link? Was there 619 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:43,640 Speaker 1: a warning? And then was this the link? You know. 620 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: The other thing that was terribly similar, of course, was 621 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:50,919 Speaker 1: the attack in Las Vegas and the attacks several months 622 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 1: earlier this year in Manchester where we saw a concert 623 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,760 Speaker 1: as of target. So I think there were enough superficial 624 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:02,720 Speaker 1: similarities to raise but right now we're just not seeing 625 00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:09,760 Speaker 1: anything that definitively links Paddock to a radical Islamic group 626 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:15,160 Speaker 1: of any kind. The main definition of terrorism is a 627 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:18,600 Speaker 1: lawful force and violence terrorist act, but it has to 628 00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:23,200 Speaker 1: have a purpose to it to intimidate or coerce the 629 00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:28,200 Speaker 1: government or the civilian population or any segment thereof. So 630 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: we think of terrorism as part of a cause very evil, 631 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: very bad, but that it has to have this political 632 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 1: objective attached to it. So under the strict definition, it 633 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,879 Speaker 1: doesn't look like the Las Vegas incident is an act 634 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,320 Speaker 1: of terrorism strictly defined. Now, does that mean it's not 635 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: horrible and terrifying? Oh my gosh, it was absolutely terrifying. 636 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 1: The Las Vegas shooting doesn't meet the strict definition of 637 00:36:56,080 --> 00:37:00,160 Speaker 1: terrorism because there's not that political element to it. So 638 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 1: the Las Vegas shooter fits a little bit better into 639 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:09,320 Speaker 1: a kind of a subcategory of domestic terrorists. And to me, 640 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: they would include people like Eric Rudolph with the bombings, 641 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: individuals who are carrying out horrible acts of violence but 642 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:25,239 Speaker 1: without that attachment to an international group or a big 643 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,760 Speaker 1: political movement. Now, our government has tracked what we sometimes 644 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:33,360 Speaker 1: call homegrown terrorists for a long time, you know. Another 645 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: big example, of course, is Timothy McVey in the Oklahoma 646 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:42,040 Speaker 1: City bombings, which were very, very tragic. In some cases, 647 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: these individuals have a political agenda of their own, They've 648 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:50,640 Speaker 1: made statements in some cases they have it. So these 649 00:37:50,880 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 1: lone wolf domestic terrorists are particularly hard to track unless 650 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,440 Speaker 1: they meet some of the profile criteria that look for. 651 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:04,280 Speaker 1: We've been using a set of profile criteria to watch 652 00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:08,560 Speaker 1: kind of homegrowner domestic terrorist candidates for quite a long time. 653 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:12,280 Speaker 1: But when like Stephen Paddock, they really don't fit that profile, 654 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:14,759 Speaker 1: it's hard to figure out what they're up to, and 655 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:17,520 Speaker 1: it's hard to really know how to classify the terrible 656 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,239 Speaker 1: deeds that they've done. For many years now, part of 657 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: the study of terrorism has been to try to figure 658 00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:27,879 Speaker 1: out why individuals decide to commit these acts of terror, 659 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 1: and in that study, there is extensive study of people 660 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,560 Speaker 1: within the United States who meet a certain profile. The 661 00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: typical profile and you'll find us in any of the 662 00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:42,600 Speaker 1: academic literature would be someone who has had access to firearms, 663 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:48,840 Speaker 1: someone who's had military training, someone who lives in isolated life, 664 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:54,200 Speaker 1: someone who may have had relatives or close associates involved 665 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:58,720 Speaker 1: in terrorist acts or incarcerated. Their number of profile elements 666 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 1: that have been used for many years to try to 667 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: spotlight individuals within certain social groups in the US who 668 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:12,560 Speaker 1: may be heading towards committing an act of violence. I 669 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: think the profile has been pretty useful in helping law 670 00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: enforcement keep watch. Particularly let's say if you have a 671 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 1: radical group, you know radicals of Maryland. What was so 672 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,880 Speaker 1: tragic and heartbreaking with the Las Vegas shooter was he 673 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,799 Speaker 1: really didn't meet any of that profile that has been 674 00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: helpful in the past. He was older, he was financially 675 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,920 Speaker 1: well off, and there was nothing in his background that 676 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:40,440 Speaker 1: was going to trip this profile. He owned a lot 677 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:44,840 Speaker 1: of guns, which means he had passed multiple background checks, 678 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: and what is so scary about him was that he 679 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,800 Speaker 1: didn't match that profile which has been new successfully in 680 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,840 Speaker 1: other cases. Like everyone else, I'm desperate to find a 681 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,400 Speaker 1: reason why this happened, and we want to find a 682 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,600 Speaker 1: reason so we can work to prevent it in the future. 683 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,880 Speaker 1: When we don't have that reason, I think it's doubly painful. 684 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: Not only is it a senseless act, but we don't 685 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,920 Speaker 1: know what steps we might be able to take in 686 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,120 Speaker 1: the future to make sure things like this don't happen again. 687 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: So my view is that unless we get more evidence 688 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:19,520 Speaker 1: that hasn't come forth yet. You know, he wanted to 689 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,319 Speaker 1: go out in a blaze of glory. It was very 690 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 1: personal to him. Some have said he had become mentally 691 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: ill over time. There may be an element there, but 692 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 1: he's going to turn out to be just a unique 693 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,839 Speaker 1: force of evil that sprang up and committed this terrible act. 694 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:38,960 Speaker 1: I don't see connection to a terrorist group. I don't 695 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:43,640 Speaker 1: think that his horrible act means that there's something wrong 696 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:47,960 Speaker 1: with our country or with American culture in general. He's 697 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:49,800 Speaker 1: going to turn out to be just one of those evil, 698 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:51,759 Speaker 1: evil people. We used to call it the work of 699 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,040 Speaker 1: the devil, and I think he's going to turn out 700 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:57,680 Speaker 1: to be just one lone evil man. Could this has 701 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:02,480 Speaker 1: been prevented, No, I think Stephen Paddock was determined to 702 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 1: create a horrible incident of violence. He had the guns, 703 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:10,680 Speaker 1: he had planned very carefully. Some reports have said he 704 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:14,800 Speaker 1: had ammonium nitrate in his car. That says to me 705 00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 1: he was going to carry out the fact one way 706 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:21,319 Speaker 1: or another. Well, I would guarantee there have already been 707 00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:24,680 Speaker 1: changes on the Las Vegas strip. You know, Las Vegas 708 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:29,080 Speaker 1: is a tightly regulated environment, and it works partly because 709 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:32,200 Speaker 1: there is a sense of freedom and security. I think, 710 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:36,000 Speaker 1: you know, a casino four in Las Vegas is probably 711 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,960 Speaker 1: one of the safest places in the world. So I'm 712 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,760 Speaker 1: sure that the casino owners, the businessman of Las Vegas, 713 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:44,480 Speaker 1: and the state of Nevada will be working hard to 714 00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:48,360 Speaker 1: try to make the Vegas much more secure. Something that 715 00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:52,360 Speaker 1: they can do possibly may include some additional aerial surveillance. 716 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,359 Speaker 1: Their technology is available for that. I'm sure that all 717 00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:58,720 Speaker 1: the casino owners are looking through their databases of people 718 00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,719 Speaker 1: that they keep track go because their guests and you know, 719 00:42:01,880 --> 00:42:05,320 Speaker 1: high rollers coming in. I think that those specialists in 720 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,960 Speaker 1: security will be doing everything they can in Las Vegas 721 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,360 Speaker 1: and other popular tourist destinations. I wouldn't be surprised to 722 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,880 Speaker 1: see Atlantic City thinking about it. You know, even Florida, 723 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,239 Speaker 1: some of the big destinations there. There's already a lot 724 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:22,359 Speaker 1: of behind the scene security, and I think that's where 725 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:26,120 Speaker 1: we'll see people really studying the lessons of Las Vegas 726 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,600 Speaker 1: and moving forward to try to help crowds and gatherings 727 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:31,920 Speaker 1: be safer in the future. You know, whatever you think 728 00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 1: about Las Vegas, one lesson really stands out to me. 729 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:39,520 Speaker 1: That is, there's nothing wrong with American culture. We don't 730 00:42:39,560 --> 00:42:43,640 Speaker 1: need to have a big discussion about American culture. This 731 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:48,200 Speaker 1: was the act of one evil man. So there's nothing 732 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,120 Speaker 1: wrong with American culture, and we're barking up the wrong 733 00:42:51,239 --> 00:42:54,680 Speaker 1: tree if we try to pursue it that way. This 734 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:57,879 Speaker 1: podcast is not a political podcast. And we're not here 735 00:42:57,960 --> 00:43:01,520 Speaker 1: to settle the gun control debate. This is a podcast, however, 736 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: about the criminal justice system, and the tragedy in Las 737 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:08,760 Speaker 1: Vegas was a crime. By way of background, I wanted 738 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:12,479 Speaker 1: to clear up a common misconception about the Bill of Rights. 739 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:16,919 Speaker 1: It's the first ten amendments to our Constitution. You see. 740 00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:21,520 Speaker 1: The Bill of Rights doesn't grant any particular right to anybody. 741 00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:24,840 Speaker 1: The Bill of Rights serves as a limit on the 742 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:28,440 Speaker 1: power of the government versus the people. So what the 743 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:32,000 Speaker 1: real issue in all of this discussion is to what 744 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:36,320 Speaker 1: length does our government have the authority to regulate our rights, 745 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:40,600 Speaker 1: including our Second Amendment rights. Surprisingly, there was not a 746 00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,719 Speaker 1: lot of case law from the U. S. Supreme Court 747 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:46,000 Speaker 1: pertaining to the Second Amendment until two thousand and eight, 748 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:49,320 Speaker 1: when the Court decided a case called District of Columbia 749 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,520 Speaker 1: versus Heller. Before we get into Heller, it's important to 750 00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:56,560 Speaker 1: understand that when interpreting the Constitution, it's not what the 751 00:43:56,640 --> 00:44:00,560 Speaker 1: Constitution says that matters. It's what the Supreme Court says 752 00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:03,560 Speaker 1: that it means is what matters. The text of the 753 00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:08,600 Speaker 1: Second Amendment says a well regulated militia comma being necessary 754 00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 1: to the security of a free state comma. The right 755 00:44:11,680 --> 00:44:14,680 Speaker 1: of the people to keep and bear arms comma shall 756 00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:18,759 Speaker 1: not be infringed, period. So DC versus Heller is a 757 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:21,800 Speaker 1: landmark case where the U. S. Supreme Court decided on 758 00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:25,600 Speaker 1: June two thousand and eight by a five to four majority, 759 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:29,520 Speaker 1: that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess 760 00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:34,120 Speaker 1: firearms and that right has nothing to do with serving 761 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:38,000 Speaker 1: in any state militia. Further, it clarifies the right extends 762 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:41,840 Speaker 1: to the use of firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, including 763 00:44:41,920 --> 00:44:45,480 Speaker 1: the ancient right of self defense. The Heller case started 764 00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:49,600 Speaker 1: because the District of Columbia, by local law, banned handgun 765 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:53,840 Speaker 1: possession and made it a crime to carry an unregistered firearm, 766 00:44:54,239 --> 00:44:58,239 Speaker 1: and it also prohibited the registration of handguns altogether in 767 00:44:58,360 --> 00:45:01,880 Speaker 1: d C. D C law also said that no person 768 00:45:02,239 --> 00:45:05,799 Speaker 1: may carry an unlicensed handgun, but it authorizes the chief 769 00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:10,320 Speaker 1: of police to issue one year licenses. Additionally, it required 770 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:15,160 Speaker 1: residents to keep lawfully owned firearms unloaded and disassembled or 771 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:19,240 Speaker 1: bound by a trigger lock or a similar device. Heller 772 00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,480 Speaker 1: was a d C Special policeman. He applied to register 773 00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,880 Speaker 1: a handgun that he wished to keep it home, but 774 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,759 Speaker 1: the district refused, so he filed a lawsuit in the 775 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:31,720 Speaker 1: Federal Court in d C. On Second Amendment grounds, asking 776 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:35,840 Speaker 1: the court to prohibit the city from enforcing these laws. 777 00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,960 Speaker 1: Up until this point, a lot of scholars and even 778 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:42,279 Speaker 1: courts interpreted the Second Amendment to be limited by the 779 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:46,480 Speaker 1: very first few words, which say a well regulated militia 780 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,480 Speaker 1: being necessary to the security of a free state. But 781 00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:52,200 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court said in the Heller opinion that the 782 00:45:52,400 --> 00:45:56,080 Speaker 1: operative cause was the right of the people to keep 783 00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:59,640 Speaker 1: in bear arms shall not be infringed. And they said 784 00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:04,320 Speaker 1: that codifies individual right, a right that existed long before 785 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:08,080 Speaker 1: the Constitution was written, and a right that exists in nature. 786 00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 1: The Court said that the preamble, the part about a 787 00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:14,640 Speaker 1: well regulated militia was simply an expression of the framer's 788 00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:18,640 Speaker 1: belief that the most effective way to destroy a citizens 789 00:46:18,719 --> 00:46:22,600 Speaker 1: militia was to disarm the citizens, which is exactly what 790 00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:25,840 Speaker 1: the British attempted to do at the battles of Lexington 791 00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:29,480 Speaker 1: and Concord at the very beginning of the American Revolution. 792 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:33,279 Speaker 1: Justice Scalia, writing the opinion in Heller, tells us, though, 793 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:37,440 Speaker 1: that like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. 794 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:40,080 Speaker 1: For example, there's not a right to keep and carry 795 00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:44,080 Speaker 1: any weapon or gun whatsoever, in any manner, whatsoever, or 796 00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:47,840 Speaker 1: for whatever purpose. Also, the court's opinions should not be 797 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:51,800 Speaker 1: taken to cast doubt on long standing prohibitions on the 798 00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:55,719 Speaker 1: possession of firearms by felons or the mentally ill, or 799 00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 1: laws forbidding the carrying of firearms and sensitive places such 800 00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:03,520 Speaker 1: as rules and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and 801 00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:07,120 Speaker 1: qualifications on the commercial sale of arms. As a rule, 802 00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:11,200 Speaker 1: rights do not require any government issued license for a 803 00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:14,760 Speaker 1: person to exercise that right, as opposed to a privilege. 804 00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:19,640 Speaker 1: Privileges are granted by the government unlike rights, so privileges 805 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:23,040 Speaker 1: frequently do require a license, such as a license, for example, 806 00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:27,120 Speaker 1: to drive a car. So from a purely legal perspective, 807 00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:30,279 Speaker 1: what is the bottom line? Well, in light of the 808 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,960 Speaker 1: Heller case, it's clear that while guns can be regulated 809 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:36,560 Speaker 1: to a point, I can't think of any new law 810 00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:40,439 Speaker 1: or any new regulation that would have prevented the Las 811 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:43,839 Speaker 1: Vegas massacre. I think it's also clear that the bump 812 00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:46,799 Speaker 1: stock device which the shooter used to increase his rate 813 00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:51,680 Speaker 1: of fire, could legally be outlawed tomorrow. But it's important 814 00:47:51,719 --> 00:47:54,799 Speaker 1: to remember the bump stock device is nothing more than 815 00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:59,120 Speaker 1: a commercially sold aftermarket device, and that device is not 816 00:47:59,320 --> 00:48:02,080 Speaker 1: needed for a shooter to achieve the same or similar 817 00:48:02,160 --> 00:48:06,920 Speaker 1: result using homemade means. The bottom line is that nobody 818 00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:10,600 Speaker 1: has a crystal ball. The future cannot be predicted. A 819 00:48:10,719 --> 00:48:14,080 Speaker 1: determined killer will find a way to kill, whether it 820 00:48:14,160 --> 00:48:17,719 Speaker 1: be with a gun, twenty guns, a box truck, a 821 00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:22,880 Speaker 1: homemade bomb, or whatever the evil mind can conceive. To 822 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,880 Speaker 1: make the USA truly safe from gun violence, you have 823 00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:29,919 Speaker 1: to basically take away or get around somehow the Second Amendment. First, 824 00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:33,360 Speaker 1: Then you'd have to confiscate all of the guns, and 825 00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:36,360 Speaker 1: if you did that, you'd be violating the Fourth Amendment, 826 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:40,680 Speaker 1: which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. 827 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:43,480 Speaker 1: Then you'd have to get around the due process clause 828 00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:45,880 Speaker 1: of the Fifth Amendment, and the list goes on and 829 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:49,040 Speaker 1: on and on. By the time you're done, that really 830 00:48:49,040 --> 00:48:51,440 Speaker 1: wouldn't be much of a bill of rights left. And 831 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:55,600 Speaker 1: that is what Justice Scalia, writing for the Court in Heller, 832 00:48:56,120 --> 00:48:59,719 Speaker 1: would call tyranny. And if that were to happen, the 833 00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:02,800 Speaker 1: only people who would have the guns would be the 834 00:49:02,880 --> 00:49:05,960 Speaker 1: folks in the government, and that is why the United 835 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:10,680 Speaker 1: States exists today, because an armed citizenry took up arms 836 00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:14,719 Speaker 1: against an oppressive government when the British first tried to 837 00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:19,640 Speaker 1: confiscate guns at the battles of Lexington and Concord. As 838 00:49:19,680 --> 00:49:22,720 Speaker 1: of the time of this recording, there's no known motive 839 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,360 Speaker 1: that can be attributed to the Las Vegas murder, and 840 00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:29,840 Speaker 1: so we really don't know if there was any intention 841 00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:34,120 Speaker 1: to influence any kind of policy. So was it terrorism 842 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,520 Speaker 1: or was it just a lone mad men In the 843 00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:41,000 Speaker 1: absence of any evidence that the shooter was using this 844 00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:45,560 Speaker 1: violence to intimidate or coerce some type of policy change, 845 00:49:46,080 --> 00:49:49,040 Speaker 1: my belief is that it was simply the work of 846 00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:52,640 Speaker 1: a madman. But that's just my opinion. Many other people 847 00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:56,160 Speaker 1: have other thoughts about this. We know that the Islamic 848 00:49:56,280 --> 00:50:00,400 Speaker 1: State has claimed credit for it, but according to the FBI, 849 00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:05,000 Speaker 1: there's no credible evidence that this was actually related to 850 00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:10,400 Speaker 1: international Islamic terrorism. We extend our most sincere condolences to 851 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:13,520 Speaker 1: the families of the victims in the Las Vegas massacre. 852 00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:17,920 Speaker 1: It is our sincere hope and wish that those injured 853 00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:21,960 Speaker 1: will recover as much and as fast as possible. We 854 00:50:22,080 --> 00:50:26,319 Speaker 1: hope that law enforcement can figure out just what motivated 855 00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:30,840 Speaker 1: this evil mind to commit this most heinous of atrocities, 856 00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:34,400 Speaker 1: so that they can better prepare in the future to 857 00:50:34,560 --> 00:50:53,080 Speaker 1: respond to any criminal act. Sworn is produced by Tenderfoot 858 00:50:53,120 --> 00:50:57,280 Speaker 1: TV in Atlanta. Story and production by Payne Lindsay, Mason 859 00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:02,400 Speaker 1: Lindsay and Meredith Steadman and myself Philip Halloway executive producers 860 00:51:02,560 --> 00:51:05,879 Speaker 1: Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. And if you have it yet, 861 00:51:06,080 --> 00:51:08,880 Speaker 1: please check out our sister podcast, Up and Vantage, that 862 00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:12,480 Speaker 1: follows the investigation into the disappearance of Georgia High School 863 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:15,960 Speaker 1: teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead. Up and Vantage is 864 00:51:15,960 --> 00:51:19,440 Speaker 1: available now on Apple Podcasts. Sworn is mixed and mastered 865 00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:22,840 Speaker 1: by Resonate Recordings. If you're in the market for podcast production, 866 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:25,799 Speaker 1: go to Resonate Recordings dot com to get your first 867 00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:30,000 Speaker 1: episode produced for free. If you haven't already, please head 868 00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:33,760 Speaker 1: over to iTunes now to subscribe, rate, and review Sworn, 869 00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:36,600 Speaker 1: and make sure you check us out online at Sworn 870 00:51:36,719 --> 00:51:40,399 Speaker 1: podcast dot com and follow us on social media at 871 00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:43,680 Speaker 1: Sworn podcast on Twitter and Instagram, and you can follow 872 00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:46,880 Speaker 1: me your host, Philip Holloway at phil holloway e s 873 00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:50,800 Speaker 1: Q on Twitter. Thanks for listening. This is Philip Halloway 874 00:51:51,000 --> 00:52:02,640 Speaker 1: and I'll see you next time. On Sworn and Lundy 875 00:52:03,560 --> 00:52:17,040 Speaker 1: and Rusty was see I See Blood in the Water. Charming, charming, 876 00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:18,840 Speaker 1: See Blood in the Water.