LAS VEGAS—Are you feeling lucky? They lay your money down and roll the dice. Mass shootings in America have reached the big time and citizens can finally cash in.
In just 13 hours, shooters killed more than 30 people in two US locations over the weekend. “After these incidents, we could no longer ignore the odds that something like this would happen again,” said oddsmaker Wesley Scion. “We had to do something.”
Scion turned to online betting site Bookie.com to state his case. “I told the head of operations that if nothing was being done to stop these events, we should at least make a positive out of a negative. It’s the American way.”
Working with the site, Scion came up with a preliminary list of bets related to the next mass shooting:
- manifesto issued online
- shooter killed by police
- shooter killed by self-inflicted wound
- shooter killed by vigilante
- suspect had police record
- neighbour says suspect was a nice guy
- history of mental illness
- gun permits for weapons
- hours elapsed before Presidential acknowledgement
- CNN first to report
- number of victims
“We’re still determining odds and how the set-up would work because typically bets are based on a scheduled event,” said Scion. “But even betting on when and where the next shooting will take place could be part of the overall wager.”
Scion did offer one tip. “If you want a sure thing, bet on the young white guy. Odds are fifty-to-one that he’s the shooter.”