After a second Trump assassination attempt, we must recommit to resolving elections by ballots, not bullets

On Sunday, in the latest illustration of America’s political chaos, the Secret Service foiled what the FBI said appeared to be “an attempted assassination” targeting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. It was the second attempt in as many months, and if we are to survive as a country, the attempts on Trump’s life must stop.

Though I am one of millions of citizens who oppose Trump’s backward-looking vision of America, I am also one of millions who will stand up for his right to express it. He should be able to run against candidates who disagree with him, and the people should be free to choose between them.

After all, you can’t kill ideas with bullets. You can’t destroy them with fire. The only thing that can kill an idea is a better one, and that’s what democracy is about.

Yet, here we are, in another defining moment, sifting through the facts of Sunday’s alleged assassination attempt.

Authorities say the former president was playing golf at his course near West Palm Beach, Fla., and was about 400 yards from the would-be shooter when a Secret Service agent spotted a semiautomatic rifle protruding from the bushes. The agent opened fire, and the suspect, whom police identified as 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, allegedly dropped the rifle and fled in a black Nissan SUV.

Law enforcement apprehended Routh about 45 miles away, and after agents searched the bushes where Routh’s weapon was initially spotted, they found the rifle with an obliterated serial number, a scope, a GoPro camera, Routh’s phone, and tactical vests with ceramic tiles. Routh, who authorities said has an extensive criminal record, has since been charged with federal weapons charges. He is currently in custody.

However, there is much we don’t know, beginning with the most basic questions. Why would Routh try to kill Trump, and what did he hope to gain by doing so? The answers are still unclear.

In a similar attempt two months ago, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks scaled a building with a rifle and shot at Trump at an outdoor rally. He killed a nearby rally-goer and grazed Trump’s ear with a bullet, according to the FBI. Crooks was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper.

It’s not clear if Routh had resigned himself to a similar fate. His social media profile, other than showing that he tried to recruit people to fight for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, did not appear to show a particular distaste for Trump. Though Routh was registered unaffiliated in 2012, records show he gave more than $100 to ActBlue, which supports Democratic candidates. He suggested in a self-published book that he voted for Trump in 2016. Still, we don’t yet know if he sought to achieve a political aim by allegedly trying to assassinate Trump.

However, I do know what I want to achieve. I want our elections resolved by the ballot, not the bullet. I want to see Americans using votes, not violence. I want our next president to be chosen in peace.

Routh tried to disrupt that process, and that’s wrong.

» READ MORE: The Trump rally shooting is yet another opportunity to change the nation’s deadly gun culture | Editorial

I believe Donald Trump personifies the idea that America’s greatness is locked somewhere in its past. Yet, even if Trump were to die today, the idea would still go on.

There will always be people who want to go backward. There will always be people who claim things were better in the past. There will always be those who think your progress is their failure. I think those are bad ideas.

However, beating those ideas is about coming up with something better. Beating those ideas is about moving forward, not back.

I believe there’s a better future if we dare to dream, dare to act, and dare to bring others along. I believe we should protect the rights of others, instead of taking them away. I believe we should embrace our differences, even if they make us uncomfortable. I believe we should move forward with boldness, instead of shrinking in fear.

As much as I disagree with Trump, I’m sure about one thing: We can’t beat ideas with violence. We beat bad ideas with better ones.