Samuel Martin - Anonymous Donor Gives $62,000 to Destroy Las Vegas Gunman’s Weapons

Donor Gives $62,000 to Destroy Las Vegas Gunman’s Weapons

Summary
An anonymous donor gave sixty-two thousand dollars to ensure that the massive stockpile of weapons found in the Las Vegas gunman's hotel room are destroyed. The families of the victims had the choice to either sell the guns to raise money for awareness or destroy them. This donation gave the families the funds to make their choice, but the donor's stipulation was that the money is used to destroy the weapons. The businessman who donated the money wanted to remain anonymous so that the families can grieve without credit being given to him. Some families want the destruction of the guns postponed until they can be used in court. While he isn't anti-firearms, he wants to ensure that there is better control of guns in the US. He believes that the families would feel better if the guns were destroyed, and doesn't want them to end up in circulation again.

Analysis
This article was written in New York on Friday 25, 2019 which means that the article was written far away from the location, but close in time to the date the check was given to the victim's families. I already knew that the guns from the shooter were in the FBI's possession, but I didn't know about the debate between selling and destroying the guns. This relates to the first time the government tried to destroy citizen's weapons in 1974, but the homicide and crime rates rose dramatically in the two month period. The audience is everyone in the United States, but is aimed at the families and victims of the Las Vegas massacre. Serge F. Kovaleski is the author, and he works as an investigative reporter at the New York Times and has a lot of experience covering tragedies in the US, including the Boston Marathon bombing. The article was written to inform the public about this donation to destroy the shooter's guns. This is important because gun control is a huge issue in the United States and society needs to be informed about the decisions that are affecting us and people we care for all the time.

Source
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/us/las-vegas-shooting-guns-donation.html