Ryan Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sunday, has found himself in a heap of legal trouble, according to U.S. media reports, including CNN. Routh isn’t just dealing with the serious allegation of an attempted assassination; he’s also been slapped with two federal gun charges.
According to the reports, the charges include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an “obliterated” serial number. Now, you might wonder why someone would be walking around with a gun whose serial number is scratched off like a hastily written grocery list. But here we are, another day in the world of American gun culture and the never-ending debate about the ease with which firearms land in the hands of just about anyone, even those who should know better.
And what about that “obliterated” serial number? It’s as if Routh wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he had something shady in mind. After all, tampering with a serial number doesn’t exactly scream “I’m a law-abiding citizen.” But this is where we find ourselves, once again questioning the effectiveness of laws that are supposed to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
