The motive of the man who tried to gun down Donald Trump matters and what we do with it matters even more — just look at Mexico.

Trump’s would-be assassin jolted our conscience, in part, because political violence remains a rarity in America despite rising polarization and pro-gun laws fanning an already fiery atmosphere.

We don’t know why the gunman targeted Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. What we know is that the former president survived, that one person was killed and two others were critically wounded.

That's enough to scare the wits out of me. I've been watching closely what happens in Mexico where bullets routinely determine the fate of the country, and I want us to do everything in our power to avoid going into that abyss.

Drug-related violence has long swept Mexico into chaos and turmoil. But this year's brutal killings of political candidates sent shocked waves even with the normalization of violence there.

The bloodiest Mexico's election in recent memory was marked by the killing of dozens of local candidates and more than 100 violent political events involving kidnappings, attempted murders and........

© Arizona Republic