Novelist, Hollywood producer, and unabashed President Joe Biden supporter Stephen King mocked the Republican Party for rejecting efforts to ban the AR-15 rifle, making his interjection in the hours after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
The alleged would-be assassin, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, reportedly used an AR-15 style rifle in the attack during the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally.
King posted to X:
An AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle was used in the Butler shooting. These are the guns the Republican party—and Trump—want to protect.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 14, 2024
On January 12, 2024, Breitbart News pointed to a National Shooting Sports Foundation press release showing there are 28,144,000 rifles in circulation that fit the Democrat’s “assault weapons” descriptor.
One of these nearly 30 million firearms was used in an heinous attempt on a former president’s life Saturday and Stephen King is pointing the finger at the Republican Party.
Hours after the assassination attempt, Breitbart News reported that Tennessee state Sen. London Lamar (D) reacted to the incident by expressing hope it would convince Republicans to support gun control.
Lamar posted to X, “Now that Trump has stated he’s fine… I wonder will he consider sensible gun laws? Gun violence is too rampant in our country and I hope this situation changes the minds of his followers and Republican lawmakers.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
