{"id":2597593,"date":"2026-05-01T08:46:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-gun-control-wouldnt-have-prevented-the-latest-trump-assassination-attempt\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T09:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:47:16","slug":"no-gun-control-wouldnt-have-prevented-the-latest-trump-assassination-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/no-gun-control-wouldnt-have-prevented-the-latest-trump-assassination-attempt\/","title":{"rendered":"Gun Control Wouldn&#8217;t Have Stopped Latest Attempt To Kill Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fno-gun-control-wouldnt-have-prevented-the-latest-trump-assassination-attempt%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2597593&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>As is so typical, just hours after the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, Democrats were already calling for more gun control. But they made the same mistake they continually make \u2014 they called for gun control laws that were irrelevant for stopping the attack they are discussing.<\/p>\n<p>The attacker had a 12-gauge Mossberg Maverick 88 pump-action <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2026\/04\/26\/suspect-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting-gun-purchases-shotgun-pistol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shotgun<\/a> and an Armscor Precision .38 semi-automatic pistol. The guns <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/shooting-suspect-white-house-correspondents-dinner-cole-thomas-allen-rcna342146\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">were obtained<\/a> from two different gun stores in California. That is an important fact that gun control advocates need to appreciate because gun control groups rate California as the <a href=\"https:\/\/giffords.org\/lawcenter\/resources\/scorecard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state with the \u201cbest\u201d gun control laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., <a href=\"https:\/\/bearingarms.com\/tomknighton\/2026\/04\/27\/as-another-would-be-assassin-fails-to-kill-trump-democrats-calling-for-gun-control-again-n1232346\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appeared<\/a> on CNN\u2019s\u00a0<em>State of the Union<\/em>\u00a0the morning after the incident and suggested the shooting could become a \u201cmoment of unity\u201d to advance \u201cuniversal, violent criminal background check[s]\u201d for gun ownership. However, California <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/articles\/2023\/03\/15\/despite_californias_mass_shootings_biden_wants_to_emulate_its_gun_laws_148985.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">already enforces<\/a> universal background checks on all gun transfers. The media rarely press gun control advocates on this point, yet my <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/01\/updated-detailed-information-on-mass-public-shootings-from-1998-to-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">research<\/a> shows that not a single mass public shooting this century would have been prevented by universal background checks, even if they had been perfectly enforced nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Malcolm Kenyatta, currently a Democratic National Committee Vice Chair, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/malcolmkenyatta\/status\/2048472024750735533?ref_src=twsrc%255Etfw%257Ctwcamp%255Etweetembed%257Ctwterm%255E2048472024750735533%257Ctwgr%255Ee053f4423b4b5975e95e32162c81681678751253%257Ctwcon%255Es1_&#038;ref_url=https:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/jeff-charles\/2026\/04\/27\/dnc-vice-chair-malcolm-kenyatta-beclowns-himself-after-using-whcd-shooting-to-push-gun-control-n2675124\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">responded<\/a> to the event by calling for a ban on \u201cmilitary-grade weapons\u201d and a closing of what he described as \u201clethal loopholes.\u201d However, the perpetrator did not purchase either gun as a so-called semi-automatic \u201cassault weapon,\u201d much less as a fully automatic military-grade weapon. California, in fact, already enforces an <a href=\"https:\/\/oag.ca.gov\/ogvp\/fed-assault-weapons-ban\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">assault weapons ban<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Ana Navarro <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/entertainment\/2026\/04\/27\/the-view-relish-trump-and-his-cabinet-felt-the-fear-for-their-lives-during-whcd-in-push-for-gun-control\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">led a discussion<\/a> on ABC\u2019s\u00a0<em>The View<\/em>, where the hosts talked about the incident, expressing hope that Trump and his cabinet had \u201cfelt the fear\u201d of being shot and that moment would make them advocate for additional gun control restrictions. Navarro may have forgotten that Trump\u2019s views on gun control haven\u2019t changed despite his previously facing multiple assassination attempts. Other administration officials who attended the dinner also held firm. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/04\/26\/trump-white-house-correspondents-dinner-gun-laws\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stated<\/a> on Sunday that policymakers should not use the attack to justify imposing new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.<\/p>\n<p>Gun control organizations, however, quickly weighed in. Michael Bloomberg\u2019s Everytown for Gun Safety <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXpmWSbGOHp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">argued<\/a>: \u201cTrump and his supporters are using the horrifying shooting at the White House Correspondent\u2019s [sic] Dinner to promote his new ballroom, all while ignoring the real problem: Easy access to guns.\u201d Yet Everytown <a href=\"https:\/\/www.everytown.org\/state\/california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">consistently praises<\/a> California\u2019s gun laws as the strongest in the nation and does not characterize the state as having widespread \u201ceasy access to guns.\u201d Instead, it presents California as a national model and a success story that other states and the federal government should follow.<\/p>\n<p>But gun control groups shouldn\u2019t hold out California as a model for the rest of the country to follow so quickly<em>.\u202f<\/em>California\u2019s per capita rate of mass public shootings <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2023\/01\/californias-mass-public-shooting-rate-is-much-higher-than-texas-or-the-rest-of-the-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has consistently exceeded<\/a> that of the rest of the country. The rate is much lower in Texas, but gun control groups give Texas an\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/giffords.org\/lawcenter\/resources\/scorecard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cF\u201d grade<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since 2010, California\u2019s mass public shooting rate per capita has been 43 percent higher than Texas\u2019 and 29 percent higher than the rest of the United States. From 2020 on, it has been even worse. California\u2019s rate was 276 percent higher than Texas\u2019 and 100 percent higher than the rest of the country.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, assassinations aren\u2019t rare, with a national leader killed in such an attack <a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.aeaweb.org\/doi\/pdfplus\/10.1257\/mac.1.2.55\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in \u201cnearly two out of every three years\u201d<\/a> from 1950 to 2004. A <a href=\"https:\/\/assassination.globalinitiative.net\/monitor\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">survey of global reports<\/a> on assassinations and assassination attempts between 2019 and 2020 found that in the Americas 52 percent of assassination cases occurred in South America, 41 percent in Central America, and just 3 percent in North America. <a href=\"https:\/\/assassination.globalinitiative.net\/wp-content\/themes\/assassination\/downloads\/MonitorReport.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Close to 90 percent<\/a> of assassination victims were shot, despite South American and Central American countries having <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2026\/04\/despite-lulas-campaign-promises-the-number-of-licensed-firearm-owners-in-brazil-increased-by-25-between-2022-and-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gun<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2025\/07\/argentinas-la-voz-covers-talk-to-police-in-cordoba\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">control<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/2019\/10\/in-the-wall-street-journal-mexicos-soaring-murder-rate-proves-gun-control-is-deadly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">laws<\/a> that are among the strictest in the world.<\/p>\n<p>In the aftermath of the attack, the immediate push for additional gun control once again overlooked whether the proposed policies would have addressed the circumstances at hand. The firearms used were obtained legally in a state already widely regarded as having the strictest gun laws in the country, underscoring a disconnect between policy proposals and real-world outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>If policymakers and advocates are serious about reducing such incidents, the focus needs to shift toward measures that directly address the factors involved, such as reducing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/articles\/2026\/04\/29\/political_violence_isnt_one-sided__so_why_is_the_conversation_154071.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the rhetoric<\/a> that seems to have driven the attacker at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, rather than reiterating familiar but ineffective solutions.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>   John R. Lott Jr. is the president of the <a href=\"http:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/\">Crime Prevention Research Center<\/a>. He served as the senior advisor for research and statistics in the Office of Justice Programs and the Office of Legal Policy in the U.S. Department of Justice during 2020-21.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As is so typical, just hours after the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, Democrats were already calling for more gun control. But they made the same mistake they continually make \u2014 they called for gun control laws that were irrelevant for stopping the attack they are discussing. The attacker had a 12-gauge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":2597594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-Untitled-90.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[34943,32319,78935,50385,35049],"class_list":["post-2597593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-assassination-attempt","tag-donald-trump","tag-firearms-policy","tag-gun-control-2","tag-political-violence"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-Untitled-90.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2597593"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2597617,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2597593\/revisions\/2597617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2597594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2597593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2597593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2597593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}