Orlando isn’t worst U.S. mass shooting
This is not meant to diminish the terrible tragedy of the night club shooting in Orlando. However, is it really the “worst shooting in U.S. history” as proclaimed in The Bee headline?
One could only claim such a thing by ignoring the many, many mass shootings of Native American Indians in the 18th and 19th centuries. In a cursory review of the record for the 30-year period 1861-1890, I found 13 mass shootings of Native Americans, each with 75 or more killed. The incidents, typically referred to as Indian massacres, had an average number killed of 168, with the shooters being identified variously as U.S. troops, local militias, vigilantes and settlers.
As atrocious as the mass shooting in Orlando was, it is a long way from being the worst mass shooting in U.S. history – it is only the worst in recent U.S. history. Let us not ignore the horrific violence that occurred in earlier times as the country was busily gobbling up other peoples’ land.
Gerry Bill, Fresno
This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "Orlando isn’t worst U.S. mass shooting."