Orlando Shooting: 5 Rules for Coping with Tragedy
Rule 1: Don't use early moments to advance your longstanding grievances against immigrants, Muslims, or guns.
With 50 confirmed dead, the shooting at Orlando's Pulse nightclub is already the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. The number of killed may rise yet, as about an equal number of people are being treated for inuries.
Early reports have identified the shooter as Omar Mateen of Port Saint Lucie, Florida, who may have connections to the Islamic State; Mateen's father has reportedly said his son was repulsed by the sight of men kissing (Pulse is a gay bar). Yet without waiting for anything like solid information, politicians, activists, and others are already weighing on the big lesson to be learned from the shooting: When will we learn not to allow immigrants anymore! When will we learn that guns need to be more heavily regulated!
In moments such as these, caution is called for, especially in the immediate aftermath, when solid information is often hard to come by.
Here's a 2011 Reason TV video called "5 Rules for Dealing with Tragedy," released in the wake of the shooting Rep. Gabby Giffords in Tuscon.
