This story is part of the IDS’ national convention coverage. Follow reporter Andrew Miller on X and IDS social media for updates.
MILWAUKEE — The 2024 Republican platform barely mentions one of the party’s core issues of recent memory: the Second Amendment.
During his presidency, Donald Trump had a mixed record on gun laws. His administration banned bump stocks, which allow semi-automatic guns to fire hundreds of bullets per minute. That ban came after bump stocks were used in a shooting that killed almost 60 people at a Las Vegas concert in 2017.
That portion of the platform listing gun laws shows up on a list of freedoms the party pledges to guard, reading that the party will protect “the right to keep and bear arms.” Republican delegates approved the platform Monday.
But the Supreme Court overturned that ban last month, which underscores some of the most important work he had done for pro-gun activists: appointing pro-gun judges.
Trump still describes himself as pro-gun, and the National Rifle Association endorsed him in May.
Still, many supporters wish he would go further in pro-gun rhetoric and policy.
But others at the Republican National Convention say he’s struck the right balance. Others even wish he would go further against guns in federal policy.
Sue O’Donnell, an alternate delegate for Kansas’ delegation to the convention, said she supports more gun control policies. A government and U.S. history teacher from outside Wichita, Kansas, she said America’s founders didn’t intend for absolutely no regulation.
Thus, she breaks with most party doctrine and supports more expanded, comprehensive background checks. Though it puts the issue into focus, she said, Trump’s near-assassination Saturday didn’t sway her one way or another on it.
Bruce Rieke, a guest of the Kansas delegation, said he didn’t think the shooting Saturday resulted from lax gun control policies, but what he described as a failure of the Secret Service and local security.
The AR-15 recovered from the scene was legally-purchased by the shooter’s father.
Rieke holds a concealed carry permit himself and views the Second Amendment as a “blessing.” But he doesn’t think of the Trump administration’s policies or basic regulations as anti-gun.
Others outside the convention saw the issue more simply.
“I think everybody should have a shotgun and a .22,” said independent Brian Tigges of Iowa.
As of 2023, Gallup polling found 56% of Americans supported stricter gun laws, while 31% were happy with the status quo and 12% supported less strict laws.
— Andrew Miller covers politics and elections for the Indiana Daily Student. Contact him at ami3@iu.edu, or direct message via X.
