Public officials condemned the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and said as one, “There is no room for political violence in this country,” and some said “This is not who we are.”

Sadly, both sentiments are understandable, but as a matter of fact, they are not true.

There is a long history of political violence in this country, and yes, this is who we are.

Much as we try to cocoon our elected officials and aspirants for public office to protect them from would-be killers, time and again the killers have succeeded. Fortunately, former President Trump survived, but a bullet missed his head by far less than an inch. How close we came to another national tragedy.

This is who we are.

Four Presidents have been assassinated by killers with guns: President Abraham Lincoln, President James Garfield, President William McKinley, and President John F. Kennedy. Some survived assassination attempts: President Theodore Roosevelt, President Ronald Reagan, President Gerald Ford.

Other political muders shook the nation to its core: most recently, Robert F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The list of political murders of civil rights leaders and workers is long, including not only Dr. King, but Medgar Evers, Violet Liuzzo, and the three men who were murdered as they were trying to register Black people to vote in Mississippi: Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman.

School children have been training for active shooters for years, yet the school massacres keep happening: most recently, in Uvalde, Texas, but unforgettably at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, where 5- and 6-year-olds were gunned down mercilessly; at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida; at Columbine High School in Colorado, and more and more and more.

Guns are now the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, ages 1-19.

So many other massacres: in Las Vegas, where a lone gunman in a hotel high above a music festival slaughtered dozens of people; at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where a lone gunman gunned down dozens of people; in Monterrey, California, where a lone gunman murdered people at a dance club last year; in Maine, where a lone gunman went from spot to spot, killing people without warning.

And yet the U. S. Supreme Court recently struck down most restrictions on gun ownership and possession; the majority claimed that it was adhering to the original intent of the Second Amendment. The fact that assault weapons were banned by Congress from 1994 until 2004 did not give the Court majority pause.

One of our two major political parties is dedicated to preserving the right of almost every individual to buy and own guns, even high-powered assault weapons. Republicans will meet in a matter of days in Milwaukee and will undoubtedly reaffirm their strong, unwavering devotion to the rights of gun owners, but not to the “right to life” of their intended victims.

Some states under Republican control have eliminated any restriction on the right to carry guns openly in public.

Despite the attempted assassination of their Presidential candidate, the Republican Party will remain unwaveringly committed to gun rights.

There are more guns than people in this country.

Gun violence, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy reported recently, is a public health crisis in this country.

Yes, this is who we are.

Yes, this is who we are.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

What will we do about it?

Thoughts and prayers won’t change anything.