He is described as the "Most Armed Man in America," and that's saying something!
His name is gun shop owner Mel Bernstein, and he is a responsible, law-abiding gun owner.
Watch this video, and you might get the distinct impression that he also just happens to be a nutcase. But we don't want to think about that, do we?
His wife died by these weapons of mass destruction, but that does not dissuade him. Apparently, it did not even give him pause for thought. Just regrets that a television show about his collection was cancelled, that's all.
So, how can we expect the recent slate of shootings to faze a man like this? In this video, he shows us how to install the bump stock that Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas killer, used last month in what wound up being the worst mass shooting in modern American history. He also passively shows us the types of guns used by the Columbine shooters. Frankly, he seems in good spirits while doing so in each case. In fact, you almost get the sense that he is having fun, and might be a little envious of the shooters.
In the aftermath of the Las Vegas mass shooting last month, business has been good. We have all heard statistics about how gun sales spike up every time that there is a major mass shooting in the United States. Most of the time, the media suggest that this is because people grab guns while they think they are available, because they all fear that the government is coming for their guns, although Bernstein himself seems to feel that there are other potential reasons for it (according to the ABC article by Michael Koenigs):
“They were only $185,” Bernstein said. “In two days [after the Oct. 1 Vegas attack], we sold all of them.” His supply of eight bump stocks had previously been sitting on the shelf for eight months, he said.
“Whatever the killer used, that’s what they want,” Bernstein, 71, said of his customers. “They want to feel the firepower. They want to have the gun just like that to show people.”
He went on to add:
“We’ve been selling more guns in the last three weeks than we have in the last eight months.”
Bernstein himself seems to feel that people want to feel that kind of firepower that he assumes mass shooters feel in the act of their crimes. That, in other words, they kind of fantasize about what it might be like to do that themselves. And when you consider that he is talking about a significant jump in the sale of these things, and if we assume that he also might be on to something, then quite a few people who so far have only fantasized about committing these atrocities at least took a big step to getting closer to realizing those dark fantasies.
Not an especially comforting thought, is it?
It all almost seems like a joke to him. For Bernstein, tragedies like those that happened in Las Vegas, or in Sutherland Springs, are good business. And indeed, Bernstein is himself a popular figure in America's gun society. Those who are strong advocates think of him in humorous terms, as well, even giving him the nickname of "Dragon Man." Indeed, he might just be the most heavily armed private citizen in the nation, with literally millions of dollars worth of arms.
But would you want to live next to a man with these kinds of weapons readily at his disposal? Would you want to live in the same town as him? Would you want your children attending a school that this man lives near?
Because I sure wouldn't.
And if indeed, some day, he takes this mass arsenal of his and goes crazy, just snaps and starts hating people enough to start killing them en masse (which he says somewhere in this video can happen pretty easily)?
Well, then we have to hope that a good guy with a gun will get lucky and kill him before he gets blasted by something in this guy's unbelievable arsenal. Hope the good guy with the gun does not get mowed down by one of his machine guns or flame throwers, or gets run down by one of his military vehicles.
In all seriousness, someday we're going to see a mass shooting involving outright military vehicles, perhaps even a tank. Maybe then, people will start to admit that there should be a limit to all of this nonsense.
But only maybe, because, you know, 'Murica and freedom and shit, ya know?
Here is the article that I used in writing this post, particularly the quotes:
What the 'most armed man in America' has to say about mass shootings by Michael Koenigs, Nov 9, 2017:
Watch this video, and you might get the distinct impression that he also just happens to be a nutcase. But we don't want to think about that, do we?
His wife died by these weapons of mass destruction, but that does not dissuade him. Apparently, it did not even give him pause for thought. Just regrets that a television show about his collection was cancelled, that's all.
So, how can we expect the recent slate of shootings to faze a man like this? In this video, he shows us how to install the bump stock that Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas killer, used last month in what wound up being the worst mass shooting in modern American history. He also passively shows us the types of guns used by the Columbine shooters. Frankly, he seems in good spirits while doing so in each case. In fact, you almost get the sense that he is having fun, and might be a little envious of the shooters.
In the aftermath of the Las Vegas mass shooting last month, business has been good. We have all heard statistics about how gun sales spike up every time that there is a major mass shooting in the United States. Most of the time, the media suggest that this is because people grab guns while they think they are available, because they all fear that the government is coming for their guns, although Bernstein himself seems to feel that there are other potential reasons for it (according to the ABC article by Michael Koenigs):
“They were only $185,” Bernstein said. “In two days [after the Oct. 1 Vegas attack], we sold all of them.” His supply of eight bump stocks had previously been sitting on the shelf for eight months, he said.
“Whatever the killer used, that’s what they want,” Bernstein, 71, said of his customers. “They want to feel the firepower. They want to have the gun just like that to show people.”
He went on to add:
“We’ve been selling more guns in the last three weeks than we have in the last eight months.”
Bernstein himself seems to feel that people want to feel that kind of firepower that he assumes mass shooters feel in the act of their crimes. That, in other words, they kind of fantasize about what it might be like to do that themselves. And when you consider that he is talking about a significant jump in the sale of these things, and if we assume that he also might be on to something, then quite a few people who so far have only fantasized about committing these atrocities at least took a big step to getting closer to realizing those dark fantasies.
Not an especially comforting thought, is it?
It all almost seems like a joke to him. For Bernstein, tragedies like those that happened in Las Vegas, or in Sutherland Springs, are good business. And indeed, Bernstein is himself a popular figure in America's gun society. Those who are strong advocates think of him in humorous terms, as well, even giving him the nickname of "Dragon Man." Indeed, he might just be the most heavily armed private citizen in the nation, with literally millions of dollars worth of arms.
But would you want to live next to a man with these kinds of weapons readily at his disposal? Would you want to live in the same town as him? Would you want your children attending a school that this man lives near?
Because I sure wouldn't.
And if indeed, some day, he takes this mass arsenal of his and goes crazy, just snaps and starts hating people enough to start killing them en masse (which he says somewhere in this video can happen pretty easily)?
Well, then we have to hope that a good guy with a gun will get lucky and kill him before he gets blasted by something in this guy's unbelievable arsenal. Hope the good guy with the gun does not get mowed down by one of his machine guns or flame throwers, or gets run down by one of his military vehicles.
In all seriousness, someday we're going to see a mass shooting involving outright military vehicles, perhaps even a tank. Maybe then, people will start to admit that there should be a limit to all of this nonsense.
But only maybe, because, you know, 'Murica and freedom and shit, ya know?
Here is the article that I used in writing this post, particularly the quotes:
What the 'most armed man in America' has to say about mass shootings by Michael Koenigs, Nov 9, 2017:
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