What You Need to Know About the Rifle Used in the Trump Rally Shooting

Earlier this week, law enforcement sources indicated that the gun used in the Trump shooting was a Defense Procurement Manufacturing Services (DPMS) AR-15-style rifle that the shooter's father purchased in 2013. While the exact model has yet to be identified, the assault weapon was reportedly designed to fire .223 Remington/5.56mm NATO ammunition. JJE Capital, which owns Palmetto State Armory (PSA) and other gun companies, acquired the DPMS brand in September 2020.

"When the gun lobby and gun industry act with impunity, no one - not even the former president - is safe," said Nick Suplina, SVP of Law & Policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. "Gun manufacturers like Palmetto State Armory have admitted that their goal is to make assault weapons commonplace in America, even though we know that a 'guns everywhere' agenda puts our communities at risk, as demonstrated by the shooting at the Trump rally last weekend. It's past time for the gun industry to be held accountable for its irresponsible practices and violent rhetoric that put us all in danger."

Here's what you need to know DPMS and Palmetto State Armory:

• DPMS is one of the earliest companies to market AR-style rifles for civilians.
  • The company consistently pushed AR-15s and larger-caliber AR-10s for hunting and other pursuits, including target shooting through its "Panther Arms" subsidiary, years before it became common in the gun industry.

• A DPMS AR-15 was also used in the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, where 14 people were killed and another 22 were wounded.

• PSA states that its "mission is to maximize freedom, not our profits. We want to sell as many AR-15 and AK-47 rifles as we can and put them into common use in America today."

• Ironically, President Trump visited a PSA store in Summerville, South Carolina in September 2023, where he stated that he wanted to purchase a Glock pistol with his face engraved on it. The sale would likely have been illegal at the time.

• PSA AR-15s were used in the Jacksonville, Florida, shooting in August 2023 and the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School mass shooting in St. Louis, Missouri, in October 2022.
  • An AR-15 made by PSA's sister brand, Lead Star Arms, was also used in the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, in March 2023.

• PSA has marketed products to political extremists. In the past, the company offered a "Big Igloo Aloha" AK-47 with a Hawaiian-shirt-themed paint job associated with "boogaloo" extremists who want to violently overthrow the U.S. government.

• PSA has posted images of children holding AR-15s on its Facebook page with the captions "Raise them right!" and "This is why we do what we do!"
  • Three PSA retail locations have been identified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as selling a significant number of crime guns.

• The company offers "shoot now, pay later" financing, to name a few examples of its irresponsible practices.

To speak with an Everytown expert, please contact [email protected].

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