As my colleague Tom Knighton covered in his first post of the day, Democrats have largely responded to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump and top administration officials with a toxic mix of conspiracy theories and calls for more gun control. I haven’t seen the conspiracy theory angle get much traction in the media (though give it time, I suppose), but the liberal press is embracing the idea that the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night is a teachable moment for the forces of gun control.
We’lve also seen some hyperbolic reporting that only adds to the anti-gun frenzy, like the New York Post headline “Inside WHCD shooter Cole Allen’s deadly arsenal of weapons — and the two California stores he bought them from.”
An arsenal? Really? The suspect apparently owned a grand total of two firearms, both of which he legally purchased at gun stores in California. That’s not even much of a collection, much less an “arsenal,” and by portraying it as such the Post is doing its readers (and gun owners) a disservice. There are tens of millions of Americans who own multiple firearms. Is the Post suggesting that we all need to be treated with suspicion because we have “arsenals” of our own at home?
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter assembled his arsenal from two California stores in the months and years before the attack.
Cole Allen purchased a Maverick 12-gauge pump-action shotgun from Turner’s Outdoorsman in Torrance last August and a Armscor semi-automatic pistol from CAP Tactical Firearms in Lawndale in October 2023.
… Agents revealed he was carrying a shotgun, a pistol and knives on him when he was taken down by officers just yards from President Trump.
The Post article goes on to provide a few details about the gun shops where Allen purchased the shotgun and pistol he had with him when he was taken down before noting that neither store replied to the Post’s questions about what “protocols were conducted” during the sales. There’s been no suggestion by authorities that the stores did anything wrong, and Allen appears to have been eligible to purchase those items under both federal and California law.
Despite that, expect to see a flood of columns and op-eds demanding more gun laws in the wake of the attempted mass shooting, like this one from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Sadly, the attack at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday will likely come and go with little consequence or reflection. But just imagine if Trump said enough is enough and used his immense charisma to turn those searing acts of horror into something positive by demanding commonsense gun reform.
With one Truth Social post, Trump could change the course of history. He could help bring a divided country together by having Democrats and Republicans work on bipartisan legislation to help reduce gun violence in America.
He would forever be remembered as the president who made America safer again.
Homicides fell to record lows last year, and that trend appears to be continuing into 2026. Trump is already making America safer, and doing so without demanding infringements on our fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
What if Trump told Congress he would like a package of commonsense gun reform bills on his desk before Election Day. Simple measures like universal background checks for every gun sale, including private transfers and gun shows, and increasing the minimum age requirement to purchase all guns 21.
He could insist the legislation incorporates what are known as red flag laws, which allow family members and law enforcement to ask a judge to temporarily remove firearms from individuals displaying dangerous behavior.
Trump could also require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns and to prevent individuals deemed to be a danger to themselves due to mental illness from purchasing guns. He could also demand laws that mandate safe storage of firearms from children to help prevent accidents and suicides.
None of those measures would infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners, but they would help reduce the easy access to guns, especially for those with mental health issues. And make the country better for everyone.
California has every one of those measures in place already, and none of them prevented the suspect from lawfully purchasing firearms. So why does the Inquirer editorial board believe this should be Trump’s response to what happened over the weekend?
Probably because the editors have long supported these gun control measures, and they view the attempted attack as the perfect opportunity to exploit a high-profile, headline-generating event to suit their purposes… even if none of their suggestions would have stopped the wanna-be assassin.
The editors aren’t just anti-gun opportunists. They’re flat out wrong when they claim that none of their preferred gun control laws would infringe on our Second Amendment rights. Raising the age to purchase a firearm to 21 would have an immediate impact on the 2A rights of young adults, for instance, and a one-size-fits-all storage mandate could also easily become so onerous that it makes it more difficult, if not impossible, to use a firearm for self-defense inside the home.
“Red flag” laws and universal background checks come with their own issues, and again, California already has each and every one of the laws that the Inquirer is demanding.
Imagine using this attack to demand more restrictions on the press like prohibiting the publishing of any “manifesto” authored by an an attempted assassin a “red flag” law that strips journalists of their ability to publish stories if a judge decides their reporting poses a danger to the community. The Inquirer editorial board would rightly lose its collective mind over a baseless attack on our First Amendment rights. It’s a shame, though not really a surprise, that they have a very different mindset when it comes to our Second Amendment rights.
Editor’s Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about our Second Amendment rights and American gun owners.
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