SHOOTING: Not worst ever

This letter is in response to Monday’s article entitled “50 slain in Orlando nightclub; worst mass shooting in U.S. history.” Many other news sources also labeled it the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. This is patently false and reveals either ignorance or an agenda on their part.

The worst mass shooting in U.S. history occurred on Dec. 29, 1890, on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. This mass shooting, also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, was perpetrated by agents of our own Federal Government and the 7th Cavalry who murdered about 300 Sioux when they came to confiscate their firearms. This killing spree apparently started when Black Coyote, a deaf Sioux who misunderstood federal agents’ orders, was grabbed from behind and a scuffle broke out. Federal agents and soldiers started indiscriminate shooting of all in sight. Most of victims were women and children who fled only to be chased down on the prairie and shot dead.

The firearm, first and foremost, is an instrument of Liberty. Those who wish to capitalize on its misuse in any tragic event to promote more restrictions on this instrument should be ashamed of themselves and resisted, for they are restricting a basic human right of self-defense. The Wounded Knee Massacre is a tangible example from our own forgotten and ignored history.

JOHN TAPPERO

Spirit Lake