Trump Engaged in Deliberate Campaign to Make Violence More Likely in US, Gun Reform Advocate Claims

President Donald Trump is facing explosive accusations that he's deliberately making America more violent by systematically tearing apart gun safety programmes and handing firearms back to convicted criminals.

The allegations, made during a televised interview, come just a day after a shooting at Brown University and focus on the administration's reversal of a landmark 2022 bipartisan gun reform bill.

A 'Deliberate Campaign' to Increase Violence

Speaking on CNN's State of the Union, Murphy argued that the administration has engaged in a 'dizzying campaign' to weaken federal oversight.

'He is restoring gun rights to felons and people who have lost their ability to buy guns. He eliminated the White House Office of Gun Violence Protection, and he has stopped funding mental health grants and community anti-gun violence grants that Republicans and Democrats supported in that 2022 bill,' Murphy stated.

He concluded with a stark warning: 'So he has been engaged in a pretty deliberate campaign to try to make violence more likely in this country. And I think you're, unfortunately, going to see the results of that on the streets of America'.

What the Numbers Actually Show

Murphy pointed to concrete data showing that gun laws make a real difference. States with stricter regulations—Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and California—report gun violence rates, murder rates, and mass shooting rates that are two to three to four times lower than those of states with loose gun laws.

The 2022 legislation that Trump is now unwinding had actually started to work, according to Murphy. 'Since we passed that bill in 2022, the first bill in 30 years that strengthens the nation's gun laws, gun violence rates and mass shooting rates have come down in this country', he said.

But there is a complication: many weapons used in crimes in states with strict laws come from states where criminals and people with serious mental illness can easily buy guns. Federal policy matters because guns cross state lines, which is why Trump's rollback at the national level undermines even the strongest state protections.

White House Rebuttal

The Trump administration absolutely rejected the characterisation that its policies are making violence worse. Instead, officials have pivoted the conversation towards political rhetoric, accusing Democrats of inciting violence.

'Before spreading these lies, Chris Murphy should take a look in the mirror', White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said. 'Chris and his colleagues have regularly used rhetoric meant to incite their followers to violence, including smearing ICE officers as Nazis and calling their political opponents fascists'.

Jackson pointed to what she described as skyrocketing assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, which the administration blames on Democratic rhetoric. She also brought up the assassination of Charlie Kirk earlier this year and what she called 'violent riots that leftists have engaged in' as evidence of what the White House terms 'the Violent Left'.

'Assaults against ICE officers have skyrocketed and Charlie Kirk was tragically assassinated earlier this year, not to mention the other violent riots that leftists have engaged in,' Jackson continued. 'The Violent Left is a problem whether Chris admits it or not'.

Congress Deadlock and the Gun Lobby

Murphy acknowledged the grim reality facing gun reform efforts. 'I will never stop trying to get bipartisan support. But I think it is pretty clear that President Trump and this White House are in the pocket of the gun lobby', he said.

He does not see any path forward whilst Trump is in office. 'I just don't foresee that this White House is going to support anything that would cross the gun industry. And, as we know right now, unfortunately, the Republicans in Congress don't ever meaningfully break from this President'.

Murphy's assessment is blunt: 'Until they get the OK from President Trump to break with the gun lobby, I think the chances of us getting something done are slim. That doesn't mean I won't try'.

Why This Matters for America

The United States experiences dramatically higher rates of gun violence compared to other developed nations. Firearms deaths consistently rank as a leading cause of mortality among young Americans, and mass shooting incidents have become more frequent over the past decade, according to federal data.

The debate over what to do about it remains completely polarised along party lines. Gun rights supporters argue that constitutional protections cannot be infringed regardless of violence statistics, whilst advocates for stricter controls point to international comparisons showing lower death rates in countries with comprehensive regulations.

Trump's policy reversals have intensified this longstanding argument. Critics are warning that dismantling existing safeguards will lead to more deaths whilst the administration insists its approach respects constitutional rights without endangering public safety. The Brown University shooting has brought these tensions back into sharp focus, highlighting the gulf between those who believe stronger laws work and those who view them as unconstitutional overreach.