The United States has more guns than people, ranking first in the world for guns per capita. Over 40,000 Americans die from firearms every year. For decades, the families of those killed in shootings at schools, churches, synagogues, and entertainment and shopping centers have fought to restrict gun ownership. Yet the grief, tears, and cries of these parents have not been enough to halt this relentless arms race. On the contrary, some politicians enjoy posing with guns during their election campaigns, and gun manufacturers' lobbies generously fund such candidates.
The most popular weapon is the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the same type of gun that fired the shot targeting Donald Trump. Why are Americans so heavily armed? Many Americans believe they are on the brink of a civil war. Some think it's only a matter of time before this becomes a reality. They even made a movie about it—Alex Garland's film "Civil War" premiered in April, reportedly inspired by the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6, 2021.
The film starts at the end of the civil war, with no clear indication of why, how, or who started it. Critics argue that, despite its release before the presidential elections, the film says nothing about real-world American politics. However, its most striking aspect is its depiction of how a civil war could transform ordinary Americans into merciless killers. In this sense, the film is seen as a "pre-warning" about the potential impact of a civil war on American society.
While the motives remain unclear, the 20-year-old shooter who fired an AR-15 at 78-year-old presidential candidate Trump evoked scenes from Garland's "Civil War." In an extremely polarized political climate, the abundance of guns hints at future chaos. More voters are beginning to see the opposing party not just as a political rival but as a threat to their fundamental understanding of America. Most gun enthusiasts are Republican voters. In 2019, a former Republican representative remarked, "People keep talking about another civil war. One side has about 8 trillion bullets. Wonder who would win?"
Thomas Klingenstein, a financier of the Republican Party and its affiliates, describes the political divide in the U.S. as a "cold civil war." His Claremont Institute supports hard-right politics. This cold civil war, he says, is between those who believe America is inherently good and worth defending and those who believe America is inherently bad. Klingenstein urges Republicans to act as if they are in a war, advocating for ruthless and uncompromising behavior akin to Roman generals. He suggests that Republicans should fight as if choosing between "freedom" and "death."
Radical factions within the Republican Party, seeking to transform it in the "Klingenstein style," argue that the American federal government and bureaucracy have been under occupation for decades and that a second Trump presidency should completely dismantle this administrative state.
In summary, the highly polarized voters of the two major parties in the U.S. view each other as "hell." Election campaigns are run on a "winner takes all" basis. Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz famously said in his book "On War" that "war is the continuation of politics by other means." In the U.S., it seems politics has become the continuation of war by other means.
The U.S. also leads the world in military spending, with a 2025 defense budget of approximately $850 billion. With at least 750 military bases and 170,000 troops stationed in around 80 countries, the American establishment appears fractured from within. The attempted assassination of Trump is just one symptom of this internal divide in a nation where politics has become extremely polarized.
