How advocates predict Trump's 2024 win could impact gun violence prevention laws

Drew Spiegel was preparing to march successful nan 2022 Fourth of July parade successful nan Chicago suburb of Highland Park erstwhile gunfire rang out.

"In that short clip span, 7 group died, 48 much [were] injured," nan 19-year-old told ABC News. "I texted my parents that I mightiness not beryllium coming location from nan Fourth of July parade. And my life everlastingly changed."

For much than a twelvemonth aft nan shooting, Spiegel didn't talk astir it. That changed erstwhile he sewage to assemblage and encountered nan defense group Everytown for Gun Safety.

Advocates are concerned astir really Donald Trump's re-election will effect their efforts to get weapon unit prevention authorities passed.

ABC News

"They asked maine consecutive up like, 'Are you a subsister of weapon violence?' " he said. "And I was like, no, but technically I was astatine a wide shooting. And they were like, truthful past yes."

The U.S. sees 43,000 fatal shootings each year, and 120 group are fatally changeable each day, according to Angela Ferrell-Zabala, nan executive head of Moms Demand Action, an Everytown subsidiary group.

"This is bigger than a wide shooting problem, it's a weapon unit epidemic," Spiegel said, citing the July assassination attempt and apparent September attempt connected erstwhile President Donald Trump, who won a 2nd word successful nan White House connected Tuesday, arsenic grounds of nan problem's scale.

"If Donald Trump, nan erstwhile president of nan United States, is not safe from weapon violence, past cipher is," he said.

Drew Spiegel survived nan 2022 Highland Park shooting.

ABC News

Now, Spiegel is sharing his communicative pinch group who whitethorn person different opinions than him.

"The alteration we're fighting for, is not mutually exclusive pinch nan Second Amendment. They tin coexist," he told ABC News. "We tin person a state wherever group are allowed to person guns and besides a state wherever you don't person to interest astir going to school."

But he isn't conscionable reasoning successful position of nan adjacent 4 years -- he's looking astatine really nan laws made successful nan coming decades could prevention lives.

He's recovered an state successful Rep. Maxwell Frost, who won election successful Florida's 10th Congressional District successful 2022 and won reelection connected Tuesday. The 27-year-old Democrat is besides a subsister of weapon unit and was antecedently nan nationalist organizing head for weapon power defense group March For Our Lives.

That activity didn't consequence successful weapon power authorities getting passed, but Frost accepts that alteration takes time.

"The measurement you measurement nan occurrence of a activity is, you spot nan seeds are planted successful people," Frost told ABC News. "I'm nan first personification from that activity to beryllium successful Congress. That's a win, right? And past we sewage nan Office of Gun Violence Prevention [in 2023]. That's a win."

Rep. Maxwell Frost was antecedently nan nationalist organizing head for weapon power defense group March For Our Lives.

ABC News

However, Frost warned ABC News successful August that he foresees this advancement being rolled back.

"If Donald Trump wins this election, 1 of nan things he's going to do connected Day One is get free of nan agency completely. Get free of it," he said. "This agency is helping to prevention lives crossed nan full country. So getting free of nan agency virtually intends much group will dice owed to weapon violence."

With Trump returning to nan White House successful January, it's unclear really overmuch advancement weapon power will make. In 2018, nan Trump management banned bump stocks, which let guns to fundamentally run arsenic automatic weapons. However, nan Supreme Court struck down that ban successful June.

"When I'm backmost successful nan Oval Office, nary 1 will laic a digit connected your firearms," he told National Rifle Association (NRA) members successful February.

Republican statesmanlike nominee and erstwhile U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a fist arsenic he leaves nan shape pinch his woman Melania during an predetermination nighttime event, Nov.6, 2024, successful West Palm Beach, Florida.

Callaghan O'hare/Reuters

Despite this, Spiegel is hoping group will support fighting for weapon unit prevention laws, to forestall stories akin to his ain from happening each complete again.

"I deliberation our authorities and freedoms will beryllium nether a higher onslaught than ever before. But I don't deliberation it's wholly over," he told ABC News. "I deliberation there's still a state and, much importantly, our friends and family successful nan state that are worthy fighting for. And we conscionable put our heads down and get backmost to work. You conscionable support fighting."