Official: Las Vegas shooter tried to buy tracer rounds before massacre

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN

(CNN) Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock tried to buy tracer ammunition at a gun show in the Phoenix area in recent weeks, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation tells CNN.

Paddock bought other ammunition at the show, but he couldn't obtain the tracer ammunition -- bullets with a pyrotechnic charge that, when the round is fired, leaves an illuminated trace of its path -- because the vendor didn't have any to sell, the official said.

Paddock did not use tracer bullets when he fired into the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival Sunday night from his suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel, hundreds of yards away, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds of others.

The official explained that if Paddock had tracer ammunition, he would have had a more precise idea of where his shots were going in the darkness, and could have been more accurate.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/06/us/las-vegas-shooting-investigation/index.html

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I am guessing this is the effect he wanted -

[underpants]

1. I'd been wondering about that

Tracers on a M 60 belt are every 5th round so you have a more accurate picture of where the rounds are going.

[groundloop]

2. Apparently tracers are legal to purchase in the US.... WHY?????

[Javaman]

3. because...reasons!

who the fuck knows.

we live in a daily firefight.

we are a sad excuse for a civilization

[RKP5637]

26. Well said! "we are a sad excuse for a civilization" n/t

[melm00se]

8. the only possible reason

I could think of would be to put one or two at the bottom of a magazine to know when you are running low but if you did that in a competition, you would run afoul of most competition rules that say "no tracers".

So other than an intellectual exercise, I got bumpkis

[IronLionZion]

17. The NRA seems to fight hard for stuff that probably doesn't have that many customers

and can't be that profitable. Because they tend to block any attempts at regulation because of "slippery slope" towards tyranny.

The only reason the NRA is now supporting a ATF ban (not through legislation) on bump stocks is because they believe they can stop it there and not have further debate on the issue of gun control.

[Scarsdale]

20. Shortage of those bullets?

I am sure the gop members will work on correcting that immediately. Can't risk losing their NRA cash now, can they? They make sure nothing like this can possible happen to them. Someday, they will get a shock. Scalise is even touting the NRA lines. He has great insurance, so what the hey?

[RobinA]

22. DUH...

When you are out illegally shooting deer at night you need to be able to see where your fire is going so you can aim accurately! Those spotting lights on the pick-up only illuminate so far.

[ExciteBike66]

4. My first thought was that tracers might have made his attack less effective, not more.

Tracers not only show you where your own rounds are going, they show the "enemy" where the rounds are coming from.

However, the shooter was located pretty quickly even without tracers showing his location.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. I remember seeing some attendee video

where the media outlet that included it had highlighted the portion showing the hotel and its windows and you could see the (alleged) flashes from the gun against the dark background of the window and the darkness of the night.

[ExciteBike66]

6. Yeah they must have been able to see something

someone did report firing from halfway up the building.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Right

which helped to ID where he was (aside from what would have been obvious loud gunshot sounds coming out of that room).

But for someone like him, who was apparently OCD about his stuff and perfecting his technique, it seems he completely disconnected from the fact that he was firing on living breathing human beings and essentially focused on firing at objectified "targets".

[paleotn]

16. One of the few ways a human being can commit such an atrocity.

objectification. Same with serial killers.

[hexola]

33. In one of the videos you can hear someone say "coming from Mandaly Bay"

Im sure some people figured it out - but probably very few and only folks in certain areas.

[paleotn]

14. In his dark mind, a trade off....

improved accuracy, offset somewhat by authorities having an easier time finding the source. Then again, looking towards a brightly light hotel, it may not have been all that much easier to see where the rounds were coming from.

[IronLionZion]

19. Two broken windows might have given it away

But news stories do claim the police were able to triangulate which floor and room quickly by the sound. There was also a lot of false reports that night too when they thought there were multiple shooters.

[bettyellen]

28. I think the multiple shooters was because he fired from two windows in adjoining rooms.

[hexola]

34. Agree - tracers would have revealed his position quickly - this is overplayed...

Lets not forget - HE DIDN'T HAVE ANY tracers!

This is a diversion - possibly more suppressive fire from the NRA like yesterdays announcement regarding bump stocks...clearing the way to make it looks like Trump did something...

[truthisfreedom]

7. Put the pressure on the repukes to make these illegal

As well as the bump stocks.

Let's watch the nra justify tracer rounds for civilians. What do hunters do in the dark when they can't see deer? Sleep.

[ClarendonDem]

10. Can't think of any legitimate reason that someone needs tracer rounds

Unless you are in the military.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Because it "looks cool".

Note the title of the video I posted - "Awesome Machine gun firing at night - Tracer Rounds". Although this guy was apparently thinking beyond "cool" (in terms of carrying out his horrid objective), I have noticed there are all sorts of videos out there of people glorying bump stocks and other accessories for these weapons as ultimate status symbols.

I remember watching CNN back in 1991 when the attack on Baghdad began and they showed video through nightscopes and of the anti-aircraft tracer fire coming from the roofs of buildings. I know I had never seen anything like that before (as a civilian) -

[jmowreader]

27. For the same reason someone needs Tannerite: theyre fun

In the old days we WALKED, dammit. We walked to the target to see if we hit it. And we walked while we were hunting. Now they use tracers and exploding targets, and ride four wheelers to hunt...and wonder why no one wants to live near a rifle range and why there’s no game.

[IronLionZion]

30. That's the case with many of these weapons

some could argue for fending off coyotes at night or some such nonsense but really it's because they think it's cool.

Watch the look of excitement on this woman's face

[Old Vet]

42. I have both tracers and a few dragon breath rounds I use at the range...

They are really easy to purchase, The tracers are for my .308 british long gun. The tracers help with sighting in a scope and show accuracy. BUT theres no reason other then the holy shit that's cool effect with the dragons breath rounds.

[Nitram]

11. I was wondering if he had tracer rounds.

Probably would have raised the mortality rate significantly, although it also would have immediately pin-pointed his location. The acoustics at the concert venue apparently made it difficult to determine the direction from which the shooter was firing.

[AllyCat]

12. No one needs these. Even the military would be easy to peg location with these.

But the military makes this stuff to kill people and then needs to sell the leftovers, I suppose. This is terrible. All this carnage for some folks to make money and tout "freedom" or something.

[Bantamfancier]

13. Remember the gas tanks.

Maybe he wanted them to ignite the fuel.

[SarasotaDem]

18. YES

Exactly ... even pierced one of those tanks.
Perfect getaway cover

[hvn_nbr_2]

25. When I saw "tracer rounds," that was my first thought.

And welcome to DU.

[SweetieD]

21. The American gun lobby is a terrorist organization. This is pure evil. I think this shows Paddock's

motive. This was a thrill kill event for him.

[BainsBane]

23. +1

[Tikki]

24. Yes, like a thrill kill and I have to wonder if there is a mental illness that makes one have the...

absolute need to use their weapon(s) to kill and not just animals.


Tikki

[Sunlei]

29. bet his room vids were a dramatic, thrill-kill suicide. Half of American gun deaths are suicides.

no wonder police won't release evidence.

[Irish_Dem]

31. Cowards. They are all cowards.

Shooters who kill and wound unarmed men, women and children who are going about their daily business.
They are cowards.

And our political leadership, gutless wonders, could care less about the lives of ordinary Americans.
They are too afraid of their corporate masters and wealthy donors.
They are cowards.

[Sailor65x1]

32. The problem with tracers

Is that they work both ways...

[Throck]

35. My uncles refused to use them in Vietnam for that same reason.

I wonder what the source of information was?

[sarisataka]

38. One of the

"rules of combat"

[B2G]

36. Wish he had used them.

They could have pinpointed his location quicker.

[Throck]

37. Apparently he did have tracers.

http://www.djournal.com/news/nation-world/the-latest-las-vegas-shooter-bought-tracer-rounds/article_97fa3656-b89f-57b9-8bd0-a3d20863c6ff.html

[sarisataka]

39. If he used them it might have changed things somewhat

Tracers are no more nor less lethal than other bullets but they can occasionally start fires which would have added to the chaos.

They would have helped pinpoint his location sooner. Also it would have alerted the crowd sooner and perhaps indicated what escape routes were shielded from the shooter's view

[Throck]

40. I wish he had fallen out the window 30 minutes sooner.

[sarisataka]

41. I would have accepted

A cut from the window glass with a rapid bleed out