On January 6, 2021, I was present in the U.S. House of Representatives Chamber when violent insurrectionists our country’s Capitol—intent on halting Congress from fulfilling its constitutional duties and causing severe harm to , the Speaker of the House , and other members of Congress.

As I think back on this grim day for our valuable (and often vulnerable) American democracy, one of the root forces driving the violence keeps coming to mind: Second Amendment extremism. 

Second Amendment extremism stems from what legal experts call the “insurrectionist” take on the Second Amendment. This deeply flawed interpretation that Americans have a constitutional right—even an obligation—to against the government when they disagree with its path. At the heart of this extremism is a risky belief: that the Founding Fathers saw aggrieved citizens who use armed force against the government as noble patriots, not enemies of the state.

The idea that America’s Founders backed insurrectionism is unfounded. Consider President George Washington in 1794: he deployed the army and state militias to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. Or President Abraham Lincoln, who in 1865 led the Union to victory over the Confederacy—stopping its attempt to tear our nation apart via an armed rebellion meant to keep slavery alive.

Yet, astonishingly, this theory is accepted by many Americans now—including numerous foot soldiers from the Jan. 6 , and possibly some and too. Another threat to our democracy is America’s uniquely influential , which pushes and profits from armed . For decades, the gun industry has relied on that promotes violence against legislators and democratic bodies under the completely wrong label of “freedom.”

Thus, the Jan. 6 attack wasn’t an isolated disturbance. It was in part by marketing, made worse by America’s alarmingly weak gun laws, and linked to a steadily expanding .

Today, after almost a year of Trump’s second term—with its risky pro-gun platform and insurrectionist take on the Second Amendment—I’m terrified to think what another insurrection might do to our democracy.

Rather than acting to stop armed political violence and all forms of gun violence that destroy communities, the Trump Administration has chosen to and pushed to gun rules.

We’ve kept seeing the tragic outcomes of political violence and harmful rhetoric—such as the of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her spouse Mark, plus the attack on State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.

Sadly, even the aimed at Trump himself or the of haven’t made this administration rethink its gun-centered beliefs. What’s more, the use of guns in suicides among young people, military veterans, and active-duty service members—along with the horrific number of American kids killed in their , , and neighborhoods—has somehow not led the Trump Administration to change its pro-gun policies. 

Political violence spreads easily. It’s lethal. And it endangers our American republic. Yet in only one year, the Trump Administration has not only our country’s already weak federal gun safety laws—they’ve also created an especially risky tinderbox in our nation’s capital. 

Early in his second term, the President granted pardons and gun rights to politically violent people Jan. 6 insurrectionists. Later, under orders from D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, federal prosecutors the open carry of long guns and high-capacity magazines in our capital.

Just last month, the Trump Department of Justice quietly a new Second Amendment Section. Tasked with “investigating” and undoing local gun laws, one of its first moves—taken only two weeks before the Jan. 6 insurrection anniversary—was to D.C.’s assault weapons ban. 

These weapons of war have no business being on any American street. , assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are used more often in mass public shootings and police officer killings than in gun murders overall.

Beyond D.C., the Trump Administration has worked nonstop to the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)—including inspections of rogue gun sellers, resources from gun crime to immigration enforcement, and for programs that are proven to cut down on firearm violence. All these steps weaken the systems meant to make gun dealers obey the law and keep guns away from dangerous people. 

If the Jan. 6 events happened today, I’m afraid they would have been more deadly. The District’s strict gun laws—including bans on semi-automatic weapons and open carry—probably prevented some rioters from arming themselves and causing mass deaths. Police made many gun-related arrests between Jan. 5 and 7, and insurrectionists because those items were illegal in D.C. 

Today, though, the current failure to enforce D.C.’s gun safety laws risks making the type of insurrection I survived five years ago even more hazardous.

That’s why we need to demand state and federal legislators take common-sense steps—like passing universal background checks, strengthening extreme risk laws, banning assault weapons, and making sure the gun industry is properly overseen. 

We can stop gun violence and political violence. But to achieve that, we have to change direction and fight for a safer nation.