08 June 2016

Donald Trump Secures NRA Endorsement

NRA and Trump
American Presidential contender Donald Trump is solidifying his ranks by rallying one of the Republican Party’s most faithful constituencies last 20 May, telling an audience of thousands of gun owners at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual convention that he will be a faithful defender of the right to bear arms if he wins the presidency.

"I won’t let you down," the presumptive Republican nominee vowed.

The promise won Trump the NRA’s endorsement, and the group’s leaders repeatedly urged conservatives to unite behind the real estate mogul as they prepare to take on a mutual foe: likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In what was his second appearance before the NRA membership, Trump slammed Clinton as the most "anti-gun" and "most anti-Second Amendment" candidate ever to seek the presidency.

"The Second Amendment is on the ballot this November," Trump said. "The only way to save the Second Amendment is to vote for ... Donald Trump."

He repeatedly assailed Clinton — for whom he's coined a new nickname, "Heartless Hillary" — suggesting she may pack the Supreme Court with judges who would undermine gun rights. He accused Clinton of wanting Americans to be "defenseless" in the face of terrorism, such as the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

As he has previously stated on the campaign trail, Trump suggested that the San Bernardino, Calif., attack last December might have been avoided if there had been more armed citizens on site. “I would have: Boom!,” Trump said, mimicking the firing of a gun — a move that prompted wild applause from the Louisville audience.

Trump's speech came as his campaign has sought to reassure conservatives wary about his shifting views on a variety of policy issues over the years. Though Trump has made gun rights a central plank of his White House bid, he was decidedly more moderate on the issue before he was a candidate.

"I generally oppose gun control, but I support the ban on assault weapons and I support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun," Trump wrote in his 2000 book, "The America We Deserve."