Five ideas to cut political violence at its roots

We have to do more as a society to reduce the risk of political violence, and here are five ways we can start.      

The assassination attempt against former president Trump was a shocking inflection point in an already highly charged and emotional election cycle.  

We still don’t know the shooter’s motives. Since he is dead, we may never find out, but it could have been anything. We know, for example, that John Hinckley reportedly shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 because he wanted to impress a celebrity, Jodie Foster.    

But the conversation around what happened in Butler, Pa., very quickly turned to the threat of politically motivated violence. It was already on the rise along with Americans’ support for violence as a political tactic, according to a recent poll.   

That’s appalling and totally unacceptable. And while calls to “lower the temperature” are important and welcome, we must be more specific about what that means. We have to do more as a society to reduce the risk of political violence, and here are five ways we can start.         

• Protect democracy. People who have faith that representative democracy is working for them and their families don’t resort to violence. That means protecting voting rights, because the right to vote, and the confidence that your vote counts, is the best antidote to our political violence. 
• Defend speech and the freedom to learn. Censorship, book banning and infringement on free speech will backfire. Suppressing speech and dissent doesn’t create calm. Instead, it invokes a roiling undercurrent of anger. We need robust, even heated political discourse in a healthy democracy.      
• Persuade without inciting hate.  We can and should draw distinctions between candidates’ visions for America. It’s okay to say we think some ideas are terrible. But calling people “animals,” and using words like “bloodbath” to invoke apocalyptic imagery, turns political rallies into versions of George Orwell’s “Two Minutes Hate” from the novel “1984.”     
• Restrict the means to commit violence. America is awash in guns, and we need common-sense gun safety reform. It’s been true for years that there are more guns than people in the United States. Alarmingly, a recent study showed owners of firearms are more likely to support political violence than non-owners. As the saying goes, you do the math.
• Improve access to mental health services. Sometimes politicians are attacked for their beliefs. And sometimes they are targets of opportunity for unstable people who may or may not care what their positions are. One study showed that over half of people with mental illness in the United States receive no treatment at all.  We have to do better at providing care for people before they harm themselves or others.  

Appropriate authorities will also be conducting a thorough investigation to uncover any security lapses that might have contributed to the July 13 shooting.  

Meanwhile, some of the priorities outlined above can be advanced with legislation that’s pending right now. For instance, Congress needs to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. 

Unfortunately, on others, we are actively backsliding. Gun safety is one: The Supreme Court’s disastrous ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v Bruen has paved the way for loosening firearms restrictions across the country.  

As Americans who treasure our freedom of speech and political dissent, we’ve always faced a balancing act. Healthy debate and political expression must continue, incitement to mayhem cannot. 

At the same time, the risk of violence can lead to censorship by overzealous authorities or self-censorship, out of fear. We can’t let that happen either.   

I pray that the aftermath of July 13 will be a renewed commitment to ending political violence. We know that with freedom comes responsibility. Let’s take concrete steps to make this country a safer place for the open and honest advocacy and debate that make our democracy stronger, or risk losing it all.    

Svante Myrick is president of People for the American Way.