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Federal authorities are responding to a shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, a small community southeast of San Antonio.
In a press conference Sunday night, an official from the Texas Department of Public Safety described the scene: Around 11:20 am, the suspect, dressed in black, approached the church and began firing an assault rifle. He then entered the church and continued firing.
Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed that at least 26 people were killed. A Texas Department of Public Safety official said the ages of the victims ranged from 5 to 72 years old. The AP reports that the pastor's 14-year-old daughter is among the dead.
The Department of Public Safety confirmed to NPR that at least 20 others were wounded. A DPS official said in the press conference that the gunman was confronted by an armed civilian outside of the church.
The shooter, who was found dead in neighboring Guadalupe County, has been identified as Devin Kelley, 26, a former Air Force member.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Monday November 06 2017, @04:24AM (5 children)
I enjoy shooting assault rifles. At targets at a range. I'm not half bad at it. It's a challenge to hit something that small that far away. Controlling your breathing and weapon handling to choose the right moment takes practice and refinement. Am I a loonie for enjoying the sport of it?
There's also an element of connecting with history and contemporary events by knowing what it is to fire a gun, to better appreciate all those who took up, and take up, arms to defend our country. Is that crazy, too?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @04:57AM
2 x yes.
Next!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 06 2017, @05:15AM (3 children)
That's not particularly crazy, but it also doesn't necessitate people owning their own firearms or having access to large amounts of ammunition.
Target practice and hunting are the only legitimate reasons for a civilian to ever use a firearm. Self-defense is a bullshit excuse and rarely works out well. If you're wanting to protect your family, you're better off investing in stronger internal doors and carrying cellphones constantly. Because a firearm is far more likely to kill the owner or a close associate than to be used in self-defense.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by khallow on Monday November 06 2017, @06:17AM (2 children)
Then who does own those firearms? Leasing them from government? And target practice goes through ammunition quickly. An hour of intense target practice could easily go through as much ammunition as the shooting of the story.
Apparently, it worked well in the story. And there are studies [cnsnews.com] indicating that firearms are used hundreds of thousands of times a year without significant injury to any party:
A "use" doesn't mean shooting someone.
500,000 to 3 million uses per year is much higher than all deaths from firearms by more than an order of magnitude.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday November 06 2017, @09:52AM (1 child)
An hour? It's been quite a few years since I shot regularly, but back then I remember we averaged about one shot every 4-5 seconds with an SA80 (if we were actually aiming to get close to the centre of the head or chest on the target, not rapid firing). Even target shooting with a bolt action rifle where you're aiming to hit a ring in the middle of the target that's about the same size as the bullet at the far end of the range averaged about one shot every 20-30 seconds. At that rate, an hour would be 120-180 shots. TFA doesn't say how many shots were fired, but shooting 120 times and hitting only 26 people is pretty poor, especially for someone with military training.
sudo mod me up
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 06 2017, @03:31PM
So what is the point of your post?