Assassination Attempts And Plots: Gun Violence At The Centre Of U.S. Presidential Election Campaign

In a historic move, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced an executive order aimed at addressing the scourge of gun violence in the country.

In a historic move, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris announced an executive order aimed at addressing the scourge of gun violence in the country.

The move comes in the immediate aftermath of twin assassination attempts at Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump, as well as reports of shots being fired at Kamala Harris’s Arizona office. There are also reports of assassination plots aimed at both Trump and Harris.

What is the Executive Order?

The first bipartisan bill on gun violence prevention in almost three decades, the order establishes a new “emerging firearms threats task force” to crack down on machine-gun conversion devices and unserialized, 3D-printed guns. The Task Force will send a risk assessment report along with a strategy to address said threats within 90 days. The order brings to light the role of tech advancement wherein convertors devices can transform a handgun into a fully automatic firearm.
It also calls on federal agencies to develop guidance for schools on active shooter drills to mitigate potential psychological harm to students. The President’s office will release information on how the school drills can be made more effective, while minimizing the proven harmful effects on the mental health of students.

U.S. citizens and Guns

Public opinion on guns, gun-ownership, and gun violence is somewhat divided. According to PEW Research Center, as of 2023, about 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 32% who say they personally own one.

A majority of Americans – 61% to be precise – feel that it is too easy to legally obtain a gun in the US., and 6 out 10 Americans favour stricter gun laws. Finally, more than half of U.S. adults say that an increase in number of guns in the country is bad for society, and 49% see gun violence as a major problem.

Gun Violence: Top Campaign Issue

While Kamala Harris expressed her support for the second amendment of the constitution, which protects the right of Americans to keep and bear arms, she also backed a ban on assault weapons and passing universal background checks, safe storage laws, and red flag laws.
The issue of gun violence is a hot topic for election campaign with Biden and Harris touting the administration’s success, and slamming the GOP candidate, as well as the gun lobby and gun manufacturers. The leaders made references to the 2022’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and $15 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan to surge funding for law enforcement communities.

September 27th also marks a year since the Gun Violence Prevention Office was established by the Biden administration, and which works under the leadership of Kamala Harris.
According to President Biden, the office has ensured that more background checks are required for firearms sold at gun shows, and it also looks after inter-agency response teams to support communities after mass shootings.

Biden administration has also highlighted that in the 10 years that the Assault Weapons Ban was law, mass shootings went down. But after Republicans in Congress let the law expire in 2004, mass shootings tripled.

However, gun critics argue that Biden’s executive orders are a clever ruse to shift attention from his administration’s poor record in reducing crime in major metropolitan cities.

It is clear that the executive order is also a political stratagem to garner popular support. It’s impact on voting and elections results remains to be seen.