I, too, am in Omaha.
It was obvious this kid (and even if he was 19, he was still a kid in my eyes as he had never grown up emotionally) had planned this for a while. He timed this with the President’s visit, knowing most law enforcement would be away from the store. He had previously scouted the store, as he knew right where to go to have the best vantage point for ‘sniping’ of all the malls in Omaha (Van Maur has a big open area, with a nice railing around the third floor where one can brace a gun...no other store has as good of view in any of the malls in town)
All the warning signs were there of the kid about to go off, like the original poster stated. This is a tragedy that could have been stopped by those who knew the kid.
And, of course, CNN immediately trots out things like ‘mall security’, and ‘are you safe in a mall’ instead of looking at the real cause of the problem: clueless idiots not paying attention to signs right in front of them.
To the poster that said an SKS is not an assault rifle: sorry, yes it is. It may be only single shot, but it is a variant of a fully automatic gun. Though it might be used by some for hunting, it is not what this area calls a hunting rifle by any means. This SKS, according to witnesses, was also firing 3 round bursts. This means it was modified back to its assault rifle roots.
I am very much a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, but the weapon the kid was carrying is exactly the weapon banned by the assault weapon law. That brings up the question on how someone mentally instable like he was could get a hold of one of these weapons. Rumor was he stole it from his step father. But this also means none of those assault weapon provisions in law would have prevented this, thus proving how useless they are. A psychopath can get a hold of one of these weapons, yet law abiding citizens cannot defend themselves and thus end up becoming victims. One person with a pistol to defend themselves could have prevented 8 other deaths, but you won’t hear that on the liberal media.
“To the poster that said an SKS is not an assault rifle: sorry, yes it is. It may be only single shot, but it is a variant of a fully automatic gun.”
No, it’s not. The SKS is not a variant of anything. It was a semi-auto from day 1, and NEVER fully automatic by design.
The SKS is a Russian semi-automatic carbine, designed in 1945 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. The SKS is not, nor has it ever been, “a variant of a fully automatic gun.”
“I am very much a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, but the weapon the kid was carrying is exactly the weapon banned by the assault weapon law.”
It meets the medias very loose definition of an “assault weapon” and was likely one of the models or very similiar to those addressed by the assault weapons ban. This weapon does not meet the technical definition of an assault weapon.
The ban was not effective in any of its efforts. Even Janet Reno admitted that. If it was firing 3 round bursts then it was illegal unless he had a class 3 license. With his criminal background that is very unlikely.
“But this also means none of those assault weapon provisions in law would have prevented this, thus proving how useless they are.”
The laws only success was to increase prices and make it more difficult for law abiding people to purchase firearms. The anti-gunners have mostly given up on outright banning firearms. They are working to accomplish their goals through incrementalism. Make firearms and ammo expensive. Regulate them extensively to discourage ownership. They are also moving to make more and more offenses adequate justification for eliminating someones 2nd amendment rights permenantly.
I am very much a supporter of the 2nd Amendment, but the weapon the kid was carrying is exactly the weapon banned by the assault weapon law.The SKS was not covered by the Clinton-era ban. AK-47 derivatives were, but the SKS preceded the AK-47, and did not meet the specifications of the ban. And, as others have pointed out, it was never "full-auto" capable. If it had been somehow modified to fire three-round bursts, he would have had to reload five times, which seems unlikely. I suspect the witnesses were in error.
All we have here is a young, disturbed person who was very, very angry. Nothing more.