The article “Malloy proposes ban on gun ‘bump stocks’ "(January 9) reveals a common syndrome in today’s media environment. Years ago, reporting establishments and outlets were far less centralized. Many of them were smaller entities not beholden to the corporate overlords of today’s journalistic landscape. A small, exclusive handful of conglomerates today dictate and control what we see and hear in news dissemination. The claim: that one Stephen Paddock opened fire on a Las Vegas venue on October 1 of last year resulting in 58 dead and scores injured.

This official story has been purchased sight-unseen by the establishment media. I have been to Las Vegas where security cameras are everywhere. Frequently, we see images used to sell a sanctioned narrative. Where are the videos and photos of our would-be Rambo hauling almost a half-ton of hardware up to his lair; the scads of spent casings in his hotel suite? Witnesses present that night aver that they saw and heard multiple shooters.

Have we been told a fraction of the real story of this event? “Bump stocks” are a novelty; unreliable, with jams common. Other methods can be used to up rate-of-fire. Let’s lower “rate-of-crime” and stop hog-tying the law-abiding under a false rubric.

Eric Straub

East Lyme