Even after Trump shooting, his supporters still fiercely oppose gun reforms
- Most viewed even mild measures, like expanded background checks, or raising the age to buy an assault weapon to 21, as infringement on their rights
Their presidential candidate had just narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, a bullet grazing his ear on Saturday from an AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon – a rifle frequently used by mass shooters in the United States.
Yet in interviews with 12 Donald Trump delegates at his Republican Party nominating convention in Milwaukee, none advocated for limits or bans on assault rifles, raising the legal age to buy a gun, or even more robust background checks.
The delegates were dead set against any type of reform to America’s gun laws.
Most viewed even mild measures, such as expanded background checks, or raising the legal age to buy an assault weapon to 21, as infringements on the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, which grants citizens the right to own guns.
Instead, the delegates said any gun-related reforms should focus on funding better mental health support for troubled citizens, a standard Republican position. They blamed gun massacres and gun crime – including the assassination attempt on Trump – largely on mental illness and weapons falling into the wrong hands.
US law enforcement officials are still trying to determine why Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old nursing home aide, shot at Trump at his election rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Crooks was shot dead in the attack, which the FBI said was being investigated as potential domestic terrorism.
