Tri-Service

Trump Accused Of Encouraging Gun Violence Against Clinton

Donald Trump has been accused of encouraging violence against his rival Hillary Clinton.

The furore has erupted over comments Trump made on Tuesday when he accused Mrs Clinton, as he has done on a number of occasions, of wanting to take away Americans' guns.

The exact comment reads as follows:

"Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick –if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, that will be a horrible day, if – if – Hillary gets to put her judges in".

The Second Amendment is part of the original 10-item US Bill of Rights and is meant to guarantee the right to legally own firearms.

The actual wording of the amendment is that:

"A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed".

The purpose and context of this amendment has been described as helping settlers to organise a militia system, being part of law enforcement, standing up to a repressive government, fighting an invading force, and enabling self-defence and the subduing of revolts.

The issue of gun rights has become highly contentious in recent years after a number of high-profile mass shootings in the US.

Proponents of more gun-control argue that the Second Amendment refers to a different time or that it should not be interpreted so loosely as to allow potentially dangerous or mentally unstable people to acquire firearms.

For her part, according to the American political screener Factcheck.org, Clinton’s gun violence prevention proposal would not roll back the Second Amendment by banning all guns, but instead calls for a ban on semi-automatic "assault weapons" (such as AR-15s), along with other restrictions.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said that "unstable people" could respond to Trump's remarks:

This isn't play. Unstable people with powerful guns and an unhinged hatred for Hillary are listening to you, @realDonaldTrump.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) 9 August 2016

According to the New York Times, Trump’s latest comment on Clinton's gun stance has led to huge condemnation from Democrats, and many others, who are accusing him of inciting violence against Clinton or people with similar views.

Meanwhile, in the paper’s op-ed section, Thomas Friedman compared the atmosphere Trump is creating to the one in Israel that led to the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Friedman made similar remarks during the debates about Obama Care.

Don't treat this as a political misstep. It's an assassination threat, seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy & crisis.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) 9 August 2016

Mrs Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, said "what Trump is saying is dangerous".

Democratic politician Gabrielle Giffords was very nearly killed when she, and others, were gunned down in a mass shooting in Arizona in 2011.

Trump and his campaign have insisted that he only meant gun rights supporters should vote against Clinton as a bloc, saying:

"The Second Amendment people have tremendous power because they are so united."

Clinton, for her part, has focused on her rival's unsuitability for the role of president.

"A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons", she said at the Democratic National Convention at the end of last month.

What is unusual about this presidential race though, is that members of Trump's own party have made the same accusation about him.

Again, according to the New York Times, 50 of the most senior Republican national security officials, many of them associated with the George W Bush administration, have signed a letter declaring Trump to be unfit for the presidency, saying that he "would be the most reckless president in US history."

The letter says he has "demonstrated repeatedly that he has little understanding" of America's "vital national interests, its complex diplomatic challenges, its indispensable alliances and the democratic values" and that "Mr. Trump has shown no interest in educating himself".

Many of the signatories indicated that they had privately thought that Trump would make a bad president, but when he made public statements encouraging Russia to hack Democratic emails, and that he would not necessarily support NATO allies if attacked, they decided they should speak out.