On Congress' Inaction On Gun Violence, This New York Times Editorial Says It All

The New York Times editorial board on Tuesday wasted no words responding to Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest in modern American history.

The paper published an editorial that contained only a graphic showing the number of mass shootings that have occurred since June 12, 2016, as defined by the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks the crimes.

June 12, 2016, was the day of the gun massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which killed 49 people. Until this week, it was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

The death toll from Sunday night’s shooting at a music festival in Las Vegas has reached 58, plus the gunman, and continues to rise.

“477 Days. 521 Mass Shootings. Zero Action from Congress,” the headline on the Times’ succinct editorial reads.

So far, few lawmakers in Congress have shown any enthusiasm for action. They have responded to the Las Vegas slaughter the same way they reacted to numerous other mass shootings in recent years — by offering “thoughts and prayers” and arguing the aftermath of a notorious crime is not the right time to discuss gun legislation.