Sure, there was the attempted assassination of Reagan and the fears for Obama as the first black President, but in those cases it was a lone nutter rather than a conspiracy.
How long can Trump crash the market before an angry billionaire decides to take him out? The remaining Koch brother is already pouring money into legal challenges against Trump…
Even with soft body armor. A high velocity round like the .300 win mag or 6.5 creedmoor with boat tail JHPs would still zip through like nothing is there. The cavitation that those rounds make is devastating. Also the shooter tried to go for a follow up shot but missed. Double hitting the chest would have been more possible and that would be much more likely to do it.
I am aware of the circumstances that president’s and ex-presidents have in terms of medical support. All of his bodyguards are probably EMT level trained and they probably have a full on trauma team ready. But getting the head under those circumstances would have been tough.
But then again… if he did have a proper target rifle and long range caliber… the head would have been easier to hit and maybe the wind wouldn’t have blown it off course as much.
Was he using 300-win or 6.5? From what I heard it was 223 or 5.56.
He was using a .223.
The rifle he used was a cheap, bottom of the line AR-15. The AR-15s are so popular and made by so many manufacturers that they have super low end and super high end. He had on the lower end.
I do not know what kind of .223 he was using. But that round has been experimented with for so long that there is a load for every occasion. He probably didn’t use decent ammo. You need something that is specifically designed for longer range, precision shooting. The rounds are much more expensive but you do get what you are paying for.
He also used iron sights. No scope. And he was not known as a particularly good shot. It is actually surprising how close he came.
BTW, the .223 would still have penetrated soft body armor even at that distance. Even military vests designed for combat zones don’t stop rifle rounds until it is fired from a few hundred meters. It would not have stopped a .223 to the chest.
probably whatever the cheapest range grade round was. I doubt he went out and bought ammo specifically for that.