USA, views on gun ownership do not change after the assassination of Mr. Trump

2024-09-28 18:35:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been the target of two assassination attempts during this campaign. VOA spoke with several gun owners who, as correspondent Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports, say the assassinations have not changed their views on gun laws.

Law enforcement foiled an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, arresting a gun-toting suspect on a Florida golf course earlier this month.

It follows another assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July, in which Mr Trump was injured.

VOA asked gun owners how these attacks are affecting their views on gun control in this election. Matthew Gonzales says he was shocked by the attacks on Mr. Trump, but adds that all Americans have the right to defend themselves.

"Any bad person can have a gun in his hand. It is not difficult to provide them. It will always happen. That's why you have to take care of yourself," he says.

Gun rights activist Nik Clark told VOA that the assassination attempts reaffirm how firearms protect ordinary citizens and the president.

"The Secret Service is armed and the Secret Service that protects the president saw the person or saw the gun pointed near the bushes. "It's not necessary for every person to carry a gun, but if there were more people carrying guns for self-defense, these criminals would think twice before they act," he says.

But most Americans say it's too easy to buy a gun and support stricter gun laws, according to the Pew Research Center.

Every eleven minutes, someone dies from gun violence in the United States, says gun violence prevention researcher Mallory O'Brien.

"For youth between the ages of 1 and 17, the leading cause of death is firearms. We currently have the highest rate of gun suicides in the history of our country," she says.

She says more thorough background checks and other measures could help reduce gun violence.

But Wisconsin shooting range co-owner Cheryle Rebholz favors enforcing existing gun laws rather than enacting new laws.

“You can see the firearms behind me. They are inanimate objects and do not move on their own. We gun owners do not use them for crimes. We are responsible gun owners," says no.

Authorities say the gun used in the first assassination attempt on Mr. Trump appears to have been purchased legally.

The suspect for the second assassination was charged with illegal possession of a firearm as a previously convicted felon and deletion of the weapon's identification number./ VOA