Former US President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while delivering a speech at a rally in Pennsylvania on 13 July 2024, when several gunshots were fired at him. A bullet grazed his ear, slightly injuring the Republic’s presidential candidate. A slow-motion video establishes how a simple head tilt saved Trump from the assassination attempt. It shows Trump tilting his head just seconds before the shot was fired.
The attack was the most severe attempt to assassinate a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. Trump dodged the bullet, literally, but luck did not favor others. Another person was killed, and two others were seriously injured. The attack comes four months before the election and just three days before the Republican National Convention. Sadly, the attempt on Trump’s life felt familiar in an American way. Also, it raises the question, “How many presidents’ lives will it cost to ban guns in the USA”?
Presidents who have been assassinated in USA
The assassination attempt on Trump has impelled historians and journalists to look back on the assassinations and murder attempts on different US presidents and presidential candidates. Such cases are rare in the United States but not unheard of. Four presidents have been assassinated in US history. Abraham Lincoln was killed in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. James Garfield was shot in 1881 in Washington at a train station and died of his wounds two and a half months later.
In the 20th century, William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist in Buffalo, New York. Lastly, Democratic Party nominee Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968 while campaigning. Also, three presidents were wounded while in office or afterward. In addition, several presidential candidates have been the target of assassination attempts but survived. Following the attack, the name Donald Trump will be on that list.
Trump’s assassination attempt mirrors US gun violence
The attempt on former US President Donald Trump once again highlights the rampant and unresolved issue of gun violence in the USA. Law enforcement officials said the shooter was twenty-year-old Thomas Matthew, who used an AR-15 model semi-automatic rifle to shoot Trump. This gun has been used in some terrible attacks in the country. In May 2022, a young man attacked a Texas school with a gun and killed 19 children and two teachers. A man with the same weapon killed 60 people in Las Vegas in October 2017.
While it is truly a significant lapse in the security apparatus of the presidential candidate, and a lot is to be investigated, the most resounding sound will be that of the world’s supposed ‘superpower’ not controlling gun violence and gun ownership. Buying an AR-15 in the US is pretty easy. Depending on the state, a citizen can go to a gun store and buy a rifle or shotgun by showing a valid ID. In 2023, according to a report by the US media Washington Post, one out of every ten people in the United States owns an AR-15.
Consequently, Americans top the world in gun possession, homicide, and mass shootings. US mass shootings have continued in recent years. Gun ownership and mass shootings have increased since US gun restrictions were relaxed, according to a British Medical Journal study. With less than 5% of the world’s population, the US holds 46% of civilian weapons. Gun Violence Archive reports that mass shootings in the US have increased considerably. Gun violence killed 40161 and injured 34236 in 2023.
The United States averaged one mass shooting per day in 2024 and will break over 500 mass shootings for the fifth year in a row, as per the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). As of July 2, the natural midpoint of the year, 277 people were killed and 1,132 people were injured owing to mass shootings in the country. USA’s firearm homicide rate is eight times higher than Canada’s, 13 times France’s, and 23 times Australia’s. One can now speak of gun violence as an “American disease.”
Future of USA’s Gun Violence
The Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights gave Americans the right to ‘keep and bear arms’ and form a ‘well-organized militia.’ This right, which has been enshrined in the Constitution since 1791, has become a constant point of debate amongst the gun lobby and those demanding a ban on gun ownership.
Amid denouncements of political violence from leaders and average Americans on both sides of the political aisle, the nation’s great gun divide felt newly raw Sunday — but hardly changed. Despite their presidential candidate nearly being shot dead, there were no outward calls from leading Republicans for the party to ease its ardent support of gun rights.
While the reasons and context for America giving its citizens the right to own guns were different back in the day, it has now become the source of much discontent amongst the American public. ‘Open carry’ or the unconcealed carrying of firearms is allowed in the country, even without licenses in some states. These open-carrying guns are causing security concerns all over the country. Not only general people are suffering from this, but also the US presidents, presidential candidates, and other political figures are being shot in the street or rally.
There are now more guns than people in the USA. While gun violence is prevalent in other nations like the UK and India, it is not so fatal, does not have this level of public approval, and does not enjoy tacit political backing. In a country whose former (and now most likely the next) president openly supports gun ownership, the final shot has already been fired. Only this time, American society is bleeding.
Erina Haque Bithy, Security Analyst and Columnist