Donald Trump will safeguard gun rights by appointing federal judges who oppose new firearm limits if he is elected in November, despite narrowly surviving an assassination attempt, a senior adviser to his presidential campaign has said.
"We'll see a continuation of supporting and defending the Second Amendment, and really where that comes into play is, you know, the judiciary," Chris LaCivita said at an event hosted by the US Concealed Carry Association, a gun rights group, at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The US Constitution's Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms.
The remarks from Mr LaCivita - who said he carries a concealed weapon himself when not with Mr Trump - dovetailed with the sentiments expressed by a dozen Republican Party delegates interviewed by Reuters at the convention, days after a would-be assassin's bullet grazed Mr Trump's ear at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania.
All were adamantly against any reform to America's gun laws, including raising the legal age to buy a gun, strengthening background checks or limiting assault-style rifles similar to the one the gunman used in his attack.
Instead, the delegates said any changes should focus on funding better mental health support for troubled citizens, a standard Republican position. They blamed mass shootings and other gun violence - including the assassination attempt on Mr Trump - largely on mental illness and weapons falling into the wrong hands.
US law enforcement officials are still trying to determine why Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old nursing home aide, tried to kill Mr Trump. Crooks was shot dead in the attack.
"It's all about mental health," said Will Boone, a delegate from Montana. "The right to have a gun is enshrined in the Constitution. Once you start infringing on that, you'll start other rights being taken away."
Steve Kramer, from Georgia, said it was a "lie" that expanded background checks would help.
"If you look at most of the killings, someone stole the gun, so background checks wouldn't matter," Mr Kramer said.
Between 1966 and 2019, apart from school shooters who mainly stole their weapons from family members, most people who committed mass shootings had bought their weapons legally, according to data compiled by the National Institute of Justice, a research agency of the Department of Justice.
The weapon used by Mr Trump's would-be assassin was owned by his father, according to investigators.
The Republican Party has generally blocked attempts to reform gun laws, even after the massacre of 20 elementary schoolchildren in Connecticut in 2012 by a gunman armed with an AR-15 assault-type weapon and two handguns.
Efforts to pass universal background checks and an assault weapons ban were defeated by Republicans in the US Senate after that school massacre.
During his 2017-2021 term, Mr Trump tried several times to loosen gun laws, said Kris Brown, president of Brady: United Against Gun Violence, an advocacy group.
Shortly after taking office, Mr Trump signed into law a bill that reversed an Obama-era regulation that made it harder for people with mental illness to purchase guns.
The Trump administration did ban bump stocks, an accessory that essentially converts a semi-automatic weapon into a machinegun. A bump stock was used in the Las Vegas massacre of 2017, when a gunman killed 60 and wounded more than 400 people in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.
In June, the conservative-leaning US Supreme Court lifted the ban on bump stocks, citing the Second Amendment.
In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the first major gun safety bill in decades, which blocked gun sales to those convicted of domestic violence and gave new funding to state "red flag" programs to remove guns from people deemed dangerous.
The legislation passed Congress in the wake of a 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 young children and two teachers.
In 2021, the most recent year for which gun death data is available, nearly 49,000 people in the US died from gun-related injuries, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. That included a record number of gun suicides and murders.
In February, speaking to the National Rifle Association, Trump pledged to undo all gun-related restrictions enacted by Biden, whom he faces in the 5 November election.
First public appearance since shooting
Mr Trump made a triumphant entrance during the first night of the Republican National Convention, receiving a standing ovation from the party faithful two days after he was shot during a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
Mr Trump walked into the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee, with a bandage over the ear as the crowd chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight" and pumped their fists, a reference to his reaction in the moments after he was wounded.
The former president appeared moved by the response as he stood in a box alongside members of his family and Senator JD Vance, Mr Trump's choice for running mate announced earlier in the day.
The four-day convention opened hours after Mr Trump secured a major legal victory when a federal judge dismissed one of his criminal prosecutions.
Mr Trump is due to formally accept the party's nomination in a prime-time speech on Thursday and will face Democratic President Joe Biden in the 5 November presidential election.
During last night's session, one speaker after another blamed Mr Biden's economic policies for inflation that has kept prices higher, even as it has eased sharply since peaking in June 2022 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Vance, 39, was a fierce Trump critic in 2016 but has since become one of the former president's staunchest defenders, embracing his false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud.
Mr Vance is deeply popular with Mr Trump's core supporters, but it remains to be seen whether he can broaden the ticket's appeal. He shares Mr Trump's aggressive approach to politics, and his conservative statements on issues such as abortion could turn off moderate voters.
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Soon after Mr Trump's afternoon announcement, Mr Vance emerged on the convention floor with his wife Usha, shaking hands with and hugging delegates. He is scheduled to address the convention tomorrow.
Opinion polls
Opinion polls show a close race between Mr Trump, 78, and Mr Biden, 81, though Mr Trump leads in several swing states that are likely to decide the election. Mr Trump has not committed to accepting the results of the election if he loses.
The head of the main fundraising super PAC supporting Mr Trump's campaign, Taylor Budowich, said on X that MAGA Inc had raised more than $50 million (€45m).
Billionaire Elon Musk is planning to donate around $45m a month to a new pro-Trump super PAC, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with his intentions. Mr Musk endorsed Mr Trump after the assassination attempt on Saturday.
After the assassination attempt, Mr Trump said he was revising his acceptance speech to emphasise national unity, rather than highlight his differences with Mr Biden.
"The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would've been two days ago," Mr Trump told the Washington Examiner.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to throw out federal charges against Mr Trump for retaining classified documents after leaving the White House was the latest in a string of legal wins for the former president, who is due to be sentenced in New York in September for trying to cover up a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before his 2016 election victory.
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His other two indictments on federal charges in Washington and state charges in Georgia - both related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat - are mired in delays and could be significantly limited after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that he had immunity for many of his official acts as president.
"This dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts," Mr Trump said on Truth Social, also referencing the prosecutions of hundreds of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
No place for violence
The shooting attempt on Mr Trump's life immediately altered the dynamics of the presidential campaign, which had been focused on whether Mr Biden should drop out due to concerns about his age and acuity following a halting 27 June debate performance.
Nearly two dozen of Mr Biden's fellow Democrats in Congress have called on him to end his re-election bid and allow the party to pick another standard bearer.
The focus this week will be squarely on Mr Trump.
Having consolidated party control, Mr Trump could seize on the opportunity to deliver a unifying message or paint a dark portrait of a nation under siege by a corrupt leftist elite, as he has done at times on the campaign trail.
Mr Trump has frequently turned to violent rhetoric in campaign speeches, labelling his perceived enemies as "vermin" and "fascists".
Mr Biden has cast Mr Trump as a threat to US democracy, comments that some Republicans say helped foster an atmosphere that prompted the shooting even though authorities have yet to determine the motive for the assassination attempt. The gunman himself was shot dead.
Following Saturday's shooting, Mr Biden sought to lower the temperature after months of heated political rhetoric.
"There is no place in America for this kind of violence," Mr Biden said in an address from the White House on Sunday.
In an interview with NBC News, Mr Biden said it was a "mistake" to tell donors last week it was "time to put Trump in the bullseye" but noted that Mr Trump has often used incendiary words.
