Trump to NRA: '8-Year Assault' on Gun Rights Is Now Over

Trump is 1st sitting president to address NRA since 1983
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 28, 2017 3:30 PM CDT
Trump to NRA: '8-Year Assault' on Gun Rights Is Now Over
President Trump speaks during the National Rifle Association-ILA Leadership Forum, Friday, April 28, 2017, in Atlanta.   (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

On Friday—his 99th day in office—President Trump did something no sitting president has done in more than 30 years: He spoke at an NRA conference. "The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end," NBC News quotes Trump as saying Friday in Atlanta. The AP reports Trump, who attended the conference last year as a candidate, became the first sitting president to officially address the NRA since Ronald Reagan. Trump told members they now have a president who's a "true friend and champion" of gun rights. Sean Spicer says the speech was a "good way to end an incredible week."

Trump used his speech to the NRA to get involved in a congressional race for the first time since becoming president, stumping for Karen Handel in front of NRA members and then attending a private fundraiser for her afterward. Handel is running to replace Tom Price, who is now Trump's health secretary, in Georgia. The Washington Post reports Trump also took the opportunity to revive a derogatory insult he frequently directed at Elizabeth Warren during his presidential campaign. When musing about the 2020 presidential race, he said "Pocahontas" could be the Democratic nominee, and "she is not big for the NRA." Warren has claimed to be part Native American. (More Donald Trump stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X