It is the deadliest mass shooting in US history. 59 people dead and more than 500 wounded. The number is truly staggering. It’s yet another tragedy for the United States. I have to say it’s a tragedy for the whole world as well. Similar incidents could happen anywhere else. 

The sheer number of casualties has shocked the world. And yet, a lone gunman can inflict such a huge loss of life perplexes people. The increasing phenomena of lone wolves carrying out deadly attacks make the world unsafe in a more subtle way. 

A person with psychological and other thinking problems can suddenly draw out a knife, pull out a gun, detonate a bomb or drive a car to attack innocent people anywhere, anytime. That will put people living in constant fear. The implications of such attacks are huge. I would call these attacks SOCIAL PATIENTS ATTACKS. To prevent such attacks, we must deal with these social patients and cure social ills.  

The shooting happened in Las Vegas, Nevada, the state with the freest gun law which does not require purchase permits, gun registration or gun-owning licensing. Open carry is legal without a permit. Literally, there’s no gun control at all in Nevada. And in the US, well, owning a gun might be the freedom and rights of the Americans. However, not only Americans can be victims of guns, people who traveled to the US might also fall victim. So, gun control is not an issue of the Americans alone. As gun ownership can not be banned, at least for the moment, what about controlling the types of arms and the amount of ammunition? 

For example, banning automatic weapons and limiting the number of rounds of ammunition for each person? If a gun owner can only buy five bullets a time and 20 bullets or lower for the whole life, that would reduce the number of casualties significantly in case any such attacks happen, to say at least. 

It will also give the police an upper hand in dealing with the suspects. Do something rather than nothing, and do it quick. Of course, the ultimate answer is to ban guns once and for all. The question is to enjoy freedom at the cost of public safety or to exchange part of your freedom of owning guns for the freedom from fear?  There should be gun owners among the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting. Will they or should they change their attitude toward gun control?

Of course, controlling guns can not solve all the problem of Social Patients Attacks. We have to deal with the social ills of modern society, for example poverty, social inequality, racial discrimination, religious extremism and mental problems. All of these problems can produce social patients. 

In the case of the Las Vegas attack, the gunman is a multimillionaire. But he certainly was bothered by some psychological or thinking problems. He was reportedly a lonely person described by his neighbors. He didn’t really talk to others and indulged in internet games. This is another social ill of modern society where a lot of people get addicted to the internet and smart phones and don’t have normal social contacts with people. Social media can not replace person to person social contact. And it seems the attacker didn’t have close and intimate contact with his family either. Family members should care more for each other, and people at large should care more for each other and shouldn’t leave people with mental problems alone. 

Organized crimes are easier to detect because they are a larger target and keep communication and contact among members of the group. For these social patients, they often act alone. They keep everything in their own minds and don’t really talk to others. So it’s hard to find any traces of potential violent behavior, especially by outsiders. But, what about their family members, friends and companions? The attacker in the Las Vegas incident had a companion. Didn’t she notice anything abnormal about the attacker? 

And what about others? For example, gun shop owners. They must know how many guns and ammunitions this guy had bought. Did they notice the unusual signs that a man bought so much firearms and so many bullets? What about his neighbors? Did they notice anything abnormal? 

In many communities in the US, they have “neighborhood watch” where neighbors look out for any suspected intruders. But what about looking in for any wrongdoing among themselves? 

In China, there is a new term “Chaoyang Qunzhong”, literally meaning the Masses of Chaoyang District of Beijing. It is a term to describe how the residents report crimes in their neighborhood to the police. Indeed, many crimes including crimes by their neighbors were reported by Chaoyang Qunzhong and cracked by the police. I have to say that curing social ills and preventing social patients from attacking innocent people is the responsibility of each and every one of us.

Finally, my thoughts and prayers go to the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting, their families and the American people.      

(The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.)