Former President Trump has always been under fire, but the recent two assassination attempts take it to a new degree. The latest one happened at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida where lone gunman Ryan Wesley Routh was pointing a gun out of some fences and waiting for Trump. Secret service agents apprehended Routh when they noticed the gun. Two assassination attempts two months apart show how negative opinions of Trump can materialize.
Both attempted assassinations to Trump were done with the AR-15 gun. Haiden Uhrig, a junior, was asked if he thought this would encourage gun rights or restrictions. He said “ There should [not] be any restrictions on the use of guns. I feel like there should be stricter rules on who should be getting guns and who shouldn’t.”
Two assassination attempts within two months is not very common but it may start to be. In 2021 a study showed that 25% of Republicans agreed that threats against other parties leaders were justifiable and 17% of democrats thought the same. The January 6th insurrection, the two attempted assassinations and many violent protests have all occurred within less than a decade of each other. While assassination attempts and displays of mass violence may not have been common before, they are now and in a country where guns are a very loosely regulated right we can expect more politicians to be under fire. Caleb Keener, a junior, said “We have some regulations but I think we should definitely add more… we should watch who we’re selling guns to.”