Here Are All The People Making Up Conspiracy Theories About Orlando To Justify Why Gun Laws Shouldn’t Change

It’s barely been two days since the tragedy in Orlando and already some people are making up stories to justify why nothing about America’s gun laws should change. But there are two standouts on Facebook that are making making the rounds.

The first asserts that there was more than one terrorist at Pulse on Sunday and claims an unnamed survivor of the Orlando attack as its source.

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Anonymous source? Check. Over the top fear that their post will be deleted because it’s so controversial and reveals the truth? Check.

The second is more insidious because it counts on people not having actually read or heard anything about the attack beyond the fact that it happened. It also counts on people have no knowledge of the AR-15 used in the attack or current magazine sizes.

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The shooter took hostages and barricaded himself in the club’s bathroom and there was a standoff. The shooter was also armed with multiple 30 round magazines. No survivors reported seeing anyone but the lone shooter. Here’s the official timeline from authorities.

The shooter didn’t fire “nearly 1,000” rounds. He fired circa 200 rounds. That’s nearly seven magazines worth of ammunition, not thirty, easily done. It also takes only seconds to switch magazines, not minutes. And yes, you can easily kill 48 people by firing 200 rounds.

And this story is proliferating on Facebook and web forums like a virus.

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From what I can tell, this unsourced conspiracy theory was “born” just yesterday and already it’s popping up in newsfeeds. That some people are more comfortable believing vast conspiracy theories rather than the eyes and ears of the victims of this shooting speaks volumes about their priorities. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Ask me anything as long as it’s safe for all ages and just fantastically interesting.

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