Trump was shot at, but don’t expect Republicans to talk about guns

On Jul 29, 2024

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As tragic as it is, the Trump assassination attempt should lead to conversations on how to solve gun homicides and reduce them further. We have to start with talking about gun violence.

In the United States, 327 people are shot every day. On July 13, former Pre s ident Donald Trump was one of them.

The shooting at Trump’s reelection campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a person was killed and two were wounded, is a tragedy and a huge failure on the part of law enforcement. It is something that we should all find despicable, no matter your political alignment.

We now know that the 20-year-old gunman even flew a drone over the rally area two hours before Trump’s speech. The assassination attempt was such a security failure that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.

The conversation and congressional hearings over the security failure started happening days after the shooting, a part of conversation that was needed.

And yet, I have seen very few elected officials actually talk about gun violence and the need for more legal intervention despite the weapon used at the Trump rally being a favorite among mass shooters. You would think an assassination attempt would force the country to take gun violence seriously. You’d be wrong.

So I decided to talk to David Hogg, 24, who has spent the past six years fighting for better gun laws after surviving one of the country’s most notorious mass school shootings.

The importance of talking about gun violence

Hogg, who was a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a former student killed 17 people on Valentine’s Day in 2018, is the co-founder of March For Our Lives.

Because of his own experience with shootings and his advocacy work, Hogg noticed quickly how little conversation there was about guns at the Republican National Convention, either for or against, after the attempt on Trump’s life.

“It shows that they’re really running from this issue more than anything,” he told me.

During Trump’s acceptance speech at the RNC on July 18, the former president noted that he would likely never tell the story of the shooting again because it was “too painful.” Hogg contrasts that remark with his own experience and points to a campaign rally Trump held in January after a school shooting in Iowa. The day after that tragedy, the former president told Iowans that we “have to get over it.”

David Hogg: How many more students and teachers must die before lawmakers act to stop gun violence?

“Despite his harrowing story and what he’s been through, he talked about how hard it is for him to talk about it,” Hogg said. “Imagine how hard it is for the kids in Parkland to talk about it. Imagine how hard it is for parents who fear for their kids’ lives. I’m thankful that he survived, but I also hope that he understands how offensive it is to tell people just to get over it.”

Despite the difficulty, it’s important for people to talk about it. As tragic as it is, the Trump assassination attempt will…