Former President and Republican front-runner for the 2024 November elections narrowly escaped an assassination attempt Saturday when a bullet touched his ear and bloodied one side of his face. Trump showed both courage and presence of mind when he raised his fists and asked his followers to fight on as he was led off the dais to his car by the Secret Service entourage.
The assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old Pennsylvania resident was shot dead by the Secret Service. An AR–15 assault rifle was found near his body. Trump and the Republicans have long opposed the banning of the AR-15 assault rifle. It is ironic that a twenty-year-old young man could easily get hold of this deadly weapon highlighting once again how easily guns can be bought in the US. Pennsylvania law allows 18-year-olds to buy a firearm. President Trump and his Republican party staunchly oppose tighter gun control regulations on the plea that it goes against the spirit of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which imposed a ban on assault weapons was enacted in 1994. But the law expired in 2004, and Congress has repeatedly decided not to renew it, according to reports from the US press.
“Donald Trump blocked the legislation that would have kept the gun used to shoot him out of the shooter’s hands" said Samuel Schwartz, whose cousin was killed in the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.
The shock wave that followed the attempted assassination has triggered some introspection on the deep political divide in the country and the constant othering of rivals by both Republicans and Democrats. President Joe Biden has condemned the attack on his rival Donald Trump and called for an end to divisive politics, he said that violence was not an answer to differences. Trump known for his withering sarcasm against his opponents has in initial statements been sober and appealed for Americans to stay united. Trump appeared emotional and not his usual ebullient self at an appearance in the Republican Party Convention. Could this change his views on gun violence?
Yet it will not take long for things to return to normal. Already some Republicans like Ohio Senator JD Vance, Trump’s vice-presidential nominee are pointing a finger at Biden and have said that Biden has consistently painted Trump as a threat to democracy. “His portrayal of Trump as an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all caste’’ is igniting passion and hate for Trump, Vance had said after the shooting. Going a step further US Representative Mike Collins of Georgia’s 10th Congressional district called for Biden’s arrest for ``inciting an assassination.’’!
On the other side, Democratic supporters but not any party official have flooded social media with conspiracy theories. Many of them believe it was “stage-managed’’ to draw in sympathy votes for Trump! There is however no doubt that as of now Trump will benefit from what happened on Saturday evening. Trump who pollsters predicted would win the elections, would possibly increase his lead. Whether this will run on till polling day is another question.
However, the attack on Trump will help Biden to push his agenda on gun control. President Biden as well as the Democratic Party have long been pushing for stringent gun control regulations that will make it impossible for young men like Matthew Crooks from getting his hands on a lethal assault rifle. Biden mentioned gun violence during his solo news conference after the NATO summit in Washington. This was before the attempt on Trump. The Democrats have long lobbied for this but have been blocked by Republican lawmakers both in the Senate and the House. Whether the attempt on Trump’s life will persuade Republicans to soften their views is not known. Or as some believe the situation could become even more nasty.
Gun control is a divisive issue in the US. Many believe it is a right that has been given to the people by the American Constitution. The Second Amendment gives a person the right to carry arms to defend himself and his family. This was ratified on December 15, 1791, and remains at the heart of the US debate on gun culture. The context at the time was very different. It was in the early years after the American Revolution and the freshly independent colonies were building a new nation. Settlers were going into uninhabited areas where householders had to protect new land from not just wild animals but raids from lawless gangs as well as the original Red Indian tribes whose lands had been taken by the new arrivals. Guns and rifles were essential to protect the family holdings. That was in the early years and the context today is entirely different. Yet for many Americans, the Second Amendment is sacrosanct despite the many killings of innocent people including children falling victim in classrooms across the country. After every horrific incident, there is an outpouring of grief and demand for a ban but the gun lobby in the US is very strong.
The National Rifle Association representing gun owners and manufacturers is one of the most powerful gun rights advocacy groups in the US. The NRA, regularly funds lawmakers opposing stricter gun laws. The NRA had supported Donald Trump in the 2019 elections and has again endorsed him for the 2024 campaign. In May this year during an annual convention in Dallas, where Trump addressed members, he spoke of Joe Biden as the man who was trying to erode gun rights.
“We have to have a Second Amendment that is meaningful. We will have … death and destruction like we have never seen before,” Trump told a packed ballroom at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, at the possibility of a Biden re-election win. He also took the opportunity to ask gun enthusiasts to ensure they go out and vote, come November. “Gun owners must vote,” Trump said to the room, filled with politically active gun owners. “We want a landslide.”
Besides Republican politicians and many ordinary Americans, powerful voices including Hollywood celebrities support the NRA. One of the staunchest advocates was the late actor Charlton Heston. Others like Chuck Norris, Tom Selleck, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, and author Tom Selleck, comedians and writer Bill Maher.
Through American history four US presidents have been killed by assassins. Starting with Abraham Lincoln in 1865. James Garfield in 1881, Willian McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy in 1963. Three presidents survived assassination bids including Ronald Reagan in 1981, Donald Trump last Saturday and Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. In the run-up to the Presidential campaign Robert Kennedy, brother of JFK and a presidential aspirant was assassinated in 1968.
In recent times violence against serving lawmakers or their relatives has increased. In 2022, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker was attacked by a supporter of the far-right at their home in San Francisco. He did not use a gun but a hammer.
Gabrielle Giffords, a US Representative from Arizona was shot at and injured in 2011 while holding a constituent meeting at a supermarket. A 22-year-old man pulled out a pistol and shot Giffords in the head. She luckily survived.
In 2017, Representative Steve Scalise, out for an early morning baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia was shot at by a gunman. He and six others including staffers were injured and hospitalized.
Apart from these attempts on lawmakers, mass shooting is another horrific problem triggered by easy access to guns. The most gut-wrenching was the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where 26 children and teachers were killed. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old. The shooting was by a lone former student with psychological issues and a grudge against the school. In Parkland High School in Florida, 17 people were gunned down in 2018. The Uvalde school shooting in 2022 in Texas killed 19 students and two teachers. The list of mass shootings is endless and well-known.
But it is not just school and college kids, but everyone living in the US are exposed to the frustration and anger of troubled souls who can buy a gun across the counter. It could be in a shopping centre, a parking lot at a church gathering.
The figures for gun-related violence in America are stark. According to a research finding published by Johns Hopkins gun death rate in the US is nearly 25 times higher than in the rest of the developed world, and suicides ten times higher. 2022 was the worst year with 48,117 people died of gun violence. This works out to an average of one death every 11 minutes. Over 26,993 people died by firearm suicide, 19,592 died by firearm homicide, 472 died by unintentional gun injury, and an estimated 649 were fatally shot by law enforcement. In addition, an average of more than 200 Americans visit the emergency department for nonfatal firearm injuries each day.
According to a CNN report published earlier this month, up to July 11, there were 35 incidents of gun violence in schools in 2024. The figures of shooting in schools were as high as 82 incidents in 2023, 79 in 2022, 73 in 2021, and in the year of the pandemic, the figure came down to 22.
Neither the massacre of children, ordinary civilians or lawmakers have so far moved the gun lobby or those who swear by the Constitution's 2nd amendment. Will the near-death experience of Donald Trump make a difference? Could this change Trump and the Republican views on gun control? Only time will tell.
