OPINION “As we come to terms with the assassination attempt of Donald Trump this week, we need to remind ourselves that this type of political violence could be replicated in any country that has a per-capita gun ratio of 120 firearms per 100 people.
Yes, it was the US this time around. And the last time around. And the time before that. And, sure, probably the time before that too. But we need to be alert to the fact that this sort of politically-charged shooting could happen literally anywhere that has a pathological obsession with guns to the point where school shootings pass almost without notice, and massacres lead to calls for even more guns.
Don’t think that just because fifteen US Presidents and Presidential candidates have faced assassination attempts in America that this is some sort of American phenomenon. Any country that fetishes gun-rights, celebrates open carry laws and idolises members of Government who wear AR-15 pins to work could be subject to this type of thing.
We like to think that a 20-year-old kid climbing onto a roof with a rifle to shoot at a Presidential candidate is some sort of uniquely American thing. But let’s be clear – this could happen in any country that calls for its teachers to be armed, lets its citizens own guns before they can drink, and has a per-capita gun ownership rate eight times that of Australia or twenty-five times that of England”.
