Safety From Gun Violence Is A Privilege Most Americans Don't Have
Blaming security for the events at the WHCD ignores the fact that most Americans don't have security at all in a culture of easy gun access and escalating violence at groups Trump targets.
Last night’s still unclear events during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner have brought into focus the constant threat of gun violence in the United States.
Thank goodness everyone is okay, but it does beg the question if, after journalists’ horrifying experience of a suspected gunman being taken down outside of their glittering dining room full of elites with the best security in the world, it will change the culture of easy access to guns?
Because most Americans don’t have security at all.
Security is a Privilege of the Elite
Security is a privilege for the elite.
So it’s not a surprise that the focus by many in the media is blaming “security failings” for the threat.
But it is not just the president and his administration who face threats.
In fact, during Trump’s ten plus years in the political spotlight, violence has increased dramatically against people he targets with his hateful rhetoric:
“… political discourse in the United States became more hateful and divisive. Threats and actual violence against groups and individuals singled out and demonized by Trump increased. The targets of his verbal attacks were most of all racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, the news media collectively and individual journalists, and well-known politicians, mostly Democrats. There was a rise in bullying incidents in schools against minority students…Trump’s aggressive, divisive, and dehumanizing language was seconded by his followers and inflicted directly or indirectly psychological and physical harm to Trump’s declared enemies.”
In 2021, Journal of Democracy noted, “What is occurring today does not resemble this recent past. Although incidents from the left are on the rise, political violence still comes overwhelmingly from the right, whether one looks at the Global Terrorism Database, FBI statistics, or other government or independent counts.”
Their graph of terrorism in the United States by ideology shows how far-right violence escalated sharply after Trump entered the arena.
In a country where the Trump administration and some House Republicans have pursued initiatives that could restore gun rights to individuals with criminal records, including potential exceptions for some domestic violence offenses — even with an average of 3 women a day being killed by an intimate partner — it could be argued that everyone needs security.
House Republicans have pushed for a federal law that could allow individuals, including those with convictions for stalking or certain abuse charges, to carry hidden, loaded guns across state lines, overriding stricter state laws.
It’s most likely that the victims of those convicted abusers do not have security.
The average American kid going to school doesn’t have it.
Most Americans do not have security or security checkpoints. They don’t have Secret Service or private security. They can’t blame their personal security when their kids hide under a desk at school during a mass shooting event.
Trauma and Guns Go Together
