It's the Guns
It's the Guns
Even an attempted assassination of a Presidential candidate hasn't brought enough attention to one of America's most obvious problems -- easy access to firearms.
The recent attempt on former President Trump’s life has so far been used to highlight the boiling-point temperature of the deep ideological divisions in our country. But what should not be ignored is the glaringly obvious elephant in the room — the shooting happened in Pennsylvania, a state with almost no barriers to buying a gun.
As CeaseFirePA spells out, the minimum age to purchase a long gun (rifle, shot gun, semi-automatic rifle) in Pennsylvania is 18, and there is no waiting period. The shooter was 20, and used an AR-15 style weapon (bought legally by his father). See a full delineation of the Keystone State’s lax gun laws here.
Needless to say, the attempted assassination was horrible, and all political violence should be condemned.
There is though an understandable frustration among gun violence prevention advocates — not to mention survivors of those who have been killed or injured in mass shootings — that immediately after the Trump rally incident, seemingly every pundit and politician called for Americans to seriously evaluate our heated politics, tamp down the rhetoric, etc. All laudable goals, if mostly ignoring the paucity of gun legislation and exorbitant amount of guns in this country that allow for this kind of act to occur.
In any event, this seemed a good time to revisit some Armed With Reason articles concerning assault weapons in order to focus on that central piece to this stunning story.
Assault Rifle, or Assault Weapon, or "Modern Sporting Rifle," or...? - The history - and diverting affect - of debating what to call the AR-15
Bumper Sticker Logic 2 - Why assault weapons are called "assault weapons"
The Denver Accord Fact Sheets - Part 5: Reduce Firearm Lethality
How Misinformation Overturned California’s Assault Weapons Ban
Friday Finds - 12/15/23
Friday Finds - 2/9/24
Further, some have expressed that if the Trump rally attendees were allowed to bring guns into the event someone might’ve been able to stop the gunman. Here are a couple of informative videos about the gun-free zone myth.