Trump was nearly killed with an AR-style rifle he resisted calls to ban: Will it restart the gun debate in America?

A20-year-old gunman fired on Donald Trump with a rifle that has been at the center of the national debate over gun control, and that the former president and Congress have resisted calls to ban.

Since taking office, President Joe Biden has made dozens of unanswered calls to Congress to renew a ban on so-called assault weapons like the AR-15-style rifle that was used to shoot into a crowd at a Trump rally on July 13.

The assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on Saturday night is likely to renew debate about the state of the nation’s gun laws and the proliferation of high-powered firearms like AR-style rifles, which have become the most popular firearms in America while being used in some of the deadliest mass shooting events over the last two decades.

“Time and time again our communities are shaken by acts of gun violence that have invaded what should be our safe places, and that includes the violence that we saw,” according to Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of gun reform group Moms Demand Action.

“But they are a consequence of our country’s weak gun laws and guns everywhere culture — laws that allow hate to be armed with a gun to easily take someone else’s life,” she added.

The 20-year-old suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, could legally purchase rifles like the AR-15 in Pennsylvania, as shotguns and rifles can be purchased in the state at age 18. The minimum age to purchase handguns in Pennsylvania is 21.

But according to law enforcement officials speaking to ABC News, the firearm recovered at the scene of the was legally purchased by the suspect’s father.

About one in 20 US adults — roughly 16 million Americans — own at least one AR-15-style rifle, according to polling from Ipsos and The Washington