One Epidemic Has Pushed Another From The Headlines

(This chart is from The New York Times.)

The headlines, on both broadcast and print media, are almost exclusively about the Coronavirus epidemic in this country (and worldwide pandemic). That's understandable. As I write this, the number of Coronavirus cases is approaching 1,000,000 cases, and the death toll from the virus has topped 55,000.

But the other epidemic, the epidemic of gun deaths, has not gone away. Far too many people are still dying from that unnecessary epidemic. As of 4/27/20, 12,660  people have died in 2020 from gun violence - a rate that will push the number of gun deaths to over 36,000 by the end of the year. And there have been 95 mass shootings so far (a shooting where at least four people died). That would translate into approximately 300 mass shootings by the end of the year.

In fact, the Coronavirus epidemic may actually make the gun death epidemic worse. That's because it has sent millions of Americans into the gun stores to buy a weapon. In March alone, about 1.9 million guns were sold in the United States. That's a frightening number, considering we already had more than one gun for every citizen before the virus epidemic started. Some right-wingers will try to claim that those new millions of guns will make the country safer. It won't. More guns will translate into more gun deaths.

The list below, from Axios.com, is of the deadliest modern mass shootings in this country. Expect this list to grow because the gun death epidemic, though pushed from the headlines right now, is still very much with us.

America's deadliest modern mass shootings

1. Route 91 Harvest music festival, Las Vegas, October 2, 2017: 59 killed, 526 injured.
2. Pulse, Orlando, Fla., June 2016: 49 killed and more than 50 injured.
3. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va., April 2007: 32 killed and 17 injured on campus.
4. Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn., December 2012: 26 killed.
5. First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas, November 2017: 26 killed.
6. Luby's Cafeteria, Killeen, Texas, October 1991: 23 killed.
7. Walmart, El Paso, Texas, August 3, 2019: 23 killed, 26 injured.
8. McDonald's, San Ysdiro, Calif., July 1984: 21 killed.
9. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Fla., February 2018: 17 killed.
10. University of Texas Tower, Austin, Texas, August 1966: 16 killed around campus. 
11. Inland Regional Center, San Bernardino, Calif., December 2015: 14 killed.
12. Edmond post office, Edmond, Okla., August 1986: 14 killed.
13. Fort Hood, Fort Hood, Texas, November 2009: 13 killed.
14. Columbine High School, Littleton, Colo., April 1999: 13 killed.
15. Binghamton Civic Association, Binghamton, N.Y., April 2009: 13 killed.
16. New Jersey neighborhood and local shops, Camden, N.J, September 1949: 13 killed.
17. Schoolhouse Lane neighborhood and Heather Highlands Mobile Home Village, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., September 1982: 13 killed.
18. Wah Mee club in the Louisa hotel, Seattle, Wash., February 1983: 13 killed.
19. Century 16 movie theater, Aurora, Colo., July 2012: 12 killed, 58 wounded.
20. Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., September 2013: 12 killed, 8 wounded.
21. The Borderline Bar & Grill, Thousand Oaks, Calif., November 2018: 12 killed, several wounded.
22. Virginia Beach Municipal Center, Virginia Beach, Va., May 31, 2019: 12 killed.

This article was first published in October 2017 and has been updated several times after more recent shootings. The Vegas and El Paso tolls were updated in November 2019 and April 2020, respectively, after the victims died of injuries sustained in the attacks.