I posted this on June 12, 2016 and have continued to add updated links and resources – both to keep them in one easily accessible place and to help me focus on the facets of the issues that are now and will continue to impact our country as they relate to the impact of gun violence on our democracy.

“Deadliest Mass Shooting In U.S. History Leaves More Than 50 Dead At Gay Orlando Nightclub

• At least 50 people are dead and 53 injured, police say.
• The gunman was killed by police following an hours long hostage situation
• The suspect has been described as “organized and well-prepared”

In what police are calling the worst shooting in American history, a lone gunman killed 50 people and injured at least 53 others after opening fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Authorities say Omar Mateen stormed the downtown Pulse nightclub around 2 a.m. Sunday before taking dozens of people hostage and killing dozens more. Orlando Police Chief John Mina said at a press conference that SWAT officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, killing Mateen. Mina said Mateen “appeared to be carrying a rifle, an assault-type rifle and a handgun and had some type of device on him.”

• See also the following sources: the Gun Violence Archives for independent comprehensive information about gun-related violence in the U.S.
• Mass Shootings 2016
• NYT – 50 SHOT DEAD AT GAY NIGHTCLUB IN ORLANDO; Gunman in Orlando Pledged Allegiance to ISIS Before Attack
• Reuters – Fifty killed in Florida gay club shooting, worst in U.S. history
• WSJ – Terror in Orlando Leaves 50 Dead
• Obama decries Orlando shooting as an ‘act of terror’
• the guardian – Florida terror attack kills 50 in deadliest mass shooting in US history – the guardian is publishing comprehensive updated reports on this horrific act of gun violence and public and government responses, here
• NYT- How They Got Their Guns – “The vast majority of guns used in 16 recent mass shootings, including two guns used in the Orlando attack, were bought legally and with a federal background check.”
• Last Call and Then the Shots Rang Out – “The gunfire did not let up. As round after round was fired, people started dropping, some in panic, some because they were wounded, and others because they were dead.”
• Washington Post – 50 dead in worst mass shooting in U.S. history “The rampage at a gay nightclub, which President Obama called an act of terror, included a hostage standoff and ended in a shootout that left the suspect dead. Omar Mateen legally bought two guns believed to have been used in the attack within “the last few days,” an ATF official said.”
• WSJ – Terror Shooting at Gay Nightclub in Orlando Leaves 51 Dead, 53 Wounded
• Vox – America’s gun problem, explained: key takeaway – “Americans make up about 4.43 percent of the world’s population, yet own roughly 42 percent of all the world’s privately held firearms…but gun ownership is concentrated among a minority of the US population…”
• Vox – The Orlando massacre was one of 43 shootings on Sunday
• NYT – After Shooting, Talk Show Hosts Suggest Talk Is Not Enough [more accurately Samantha Bee did far more than “suggest talk is not enough”]
• Mother Jones – Fully Loaded: Inside the Shadowy World of America’s 10 Biggest Gunmakers
• 1,000 mass shootings in 1,260 days: this is what America’s gun crisis looks like
• Making a Killing – The business and politics of selling guns
• Federal Agencies Don’t Fund Big Gun-Violence Research. Can California?