Worse record set

After years of trying, this country finally has exceeded a mass shooting record set by Australia in late April 1996 in Port Arthur, Tasmania resulting in 35 fatalities and 23 wounded.

There is a marked contrast, though, in the official reaction. Within 10 days, the Australian federal government had introduced the National Firearms Agreement & Buyback Program. This prohibited public ownership of assault weapons, severely restricted the registration process and ownership of handguns and resulted in the destruction of close to a million firearms.

The reaction here to the Orlando disaster, is typified by our own Gov. Rick Scott, who offered: “We can only pray.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Worse record set."