2017 Las Vegas shooting

On October 1, 2017, at the Route 91 Harvest outdoor music festival on the Las Vegas strip, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on a crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay resort across the street. He was later found dead in his hotel room with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The attack killed 59 people and injured 527.Have you been affected by the shooting in Las Vegas? The Guardian
==Conspiracy theories==
===Wingnuttery=== 
While the shooter's motive has not yet been disclosed, conspiracy theories were spread by far-right bloggers that he was a supporter of Antifa due to some skeptical video footage of a man at a Donald Trump protest alleged to be the shooter although this was never proven.
Another belief amongst the far-right is that the shooter carried out the attack because he was an atheist and country music fans are typically devout Christians, even claiming that CNN also caused it by "demonizing gun enthusiasts". An essay by Conservative followed suit, complete with irrelevant pictures such as of Stalin.A screenshot from before he deleted it.
A (false) fringe claim is that the shooter was apparently employed by the FBI to sell illegal weaponry to DAESH, who then somehow shot him, and that it was a false flag operationLas Vegas Plot Thickens: Stephen Paddock’s Plane Was Owned By Obama Administration Intelligence Contractor Political Vel Craft to frame something and something to do with Obama. Two planes are involved?? We don't understand what the conspiracy blogs are alleging either.
===Security guard===
Tucker Carlson accused Latino security guard Jesus CamposTucker Carlson pushes conspiracy theories on Las Vegas mass shooting by Taylor Link. Salon of being involved in the shooting. In reality, Campos led the police to the shooter and was shot in the leg.Las Vegas Guard Jesus Campos Is Back to Work at Mandalay Bay Hotel After Shooting by Robert Valencia. Newsweek
===Medical woo===
There are some cranks that apparently think that Valium, an anti-anxiety drug, has been the cause of every significant mass shooting since 1993. Unsurprisingly, this "blame the psychopharmaceutical drugs" explanation has also been used to explain away the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.
===DAESH===
DAESH claimed that the shooter was a convert to Islam and was acting as a "soldier for the Islamic State". Notably, they said this without any evidence, and most investigators have dismissed their attempt to take credit, coming amidst the collapse of their self-styled "caliphate", as a desperate cry of "look at me, I'm still relevant!"Wood, Graeme. "Why Did the Islamic State Claim the Las Vegas Shooting?" The Atlantic, 2 October 2017 (recovered 7 October 2017).Smith, Saphora. "Las Vegas Shooting: ISIS Claim of Responsibility Is Sign of Desperation." NBC News, 3 October 2017 (recovered 7 October 2017). Conspiracy theorists are, of course, eating those claims right up.
Several wingnuts have jumped into the crazy car with this, including alt-right Laura Loomer, conservative talk radio host Wayne Allyn Root, Alex Jones (of course), and US Representative (Pennsylvania) Scott Perry.Channeling conspiracy theory, congressman says Las Vegas attack linked to 'possible terrorist nexus' by Kyle Swenson (January 19) The Washington Post.
===YouTube "censorship"===
YouTube filters out conspiracy theories when searching the Las Vegas shooting on its website. Infowars, being a conspiracy-nut website, called it censorship."YouTube Tweaks Search Results as Las Vegas Conspiracy Theories Rise to Top" - Infowars (October 7, 2017). Archived.
===False flag===
Just like many similar tragedies, the shooting was alleged to be a hoax by the government designed as a pretext for confiscating privately-owned guns. Screw the fact that Trump was President and Republicans controlled Congress at the time of the shooting.115th United States Congress Ballotpedia Screw the fact that no such confiscation has, in fact, taken place. The usual suspects, including Kent Hovind, cried "false flag!".Creationist: The Vegas Massacre Was a “False Flag” To Take Away Our Guns and War of Worlds: Pirates of Mandalay Bay : Illuminati versus U.S. Navy? —Project Camelot, 5 October 2017 Sadly, as with the Sandy Hook massacre, they started harassing the survivors and accusing them of being crisis actors.Levin, Sam. "'I hope someone truly shoots you': online conspiracy theorists harass Vegas victims." The Guardian, 26 October 2017 (recovered 28 October 2017).
==Gun rights==
As with previous massacres using guns, the right including conservative pundits such as David Wohl talked about how it shouldn't be politicized, even though President Trump turned Hurricane Maria into an excuse to blast Puerto Rico less than a week earlier.
Paradoxically, after a shooting, gun laws are actually loosened in some places.Mass Shootings Don't Lead to Inaction—They Lead to Loosening Gun Restrictions by David Frum. The Atlantic Sales of bump stocks, a firearm accessory that converts a semi-automatic rifle to automatic, took a sharp increase up after Las Vegas shooting. This is, no doubt, was a rush to purchase ahead of a predicted federal bump stock ban, which materialized on March 26, 2019ATF Changes Regulations to make bumpstocks illegal after Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker instructed the ATF to categorize the device as a "machine gun."
===Harassment===
A man in Arizona endured death threats, a harassment campaign, and doxxings from extremist gun nuts because he gave his guns over to the police.Man gets death threats after turning guns over to police by Cydney Henderson. USA Today The inventor of the bump stock has received death threats, lawsuits, and had his children's lives endangered from gun control extremists.The Making of a Millionaire and a Massacre by By Michael Smith and Polly Mosendz. Bloomberg
==Tragedy==
File:VOA Vegas shooting sign.jpg|Candles surround a sign that says "Pray for our city". The sign's painted background is a starry night sky with some buildings.
File:VOA Vegas Strong sign.jpg|In the background, there seems to be an endless number of candles glowing in the night. The foreground has a bouquet of white roses with a piece of paper that says "Vegas Strong". Under the text, there is a doodle of some city buildings.
File:VOA men holding banner Vegas.jpg|Men hold a blue banner in the dark that says "Love for all. Hatred for none."
==See also==
*Robert Morningstar
*Kerry Cassidy
==References==
Category:Civilian gun massacres
Category:Conspiracy theories