The Patriot Post® · Trump to NRA: You've Got a Friend in Me

Atlanta could use a pick-me-up after a slew of traffic woes in recent weeks. And on Friday, the NRA and Donald Trump delivered. Recall that in 2016 Trump spoke at the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum as a Republican presidential candidate. This year he emerged again, only this time as president of the United States. The last active president to give remarks to the NRA was Ronald Reagan. Here are a few highlights from Friday’s speech:

• “The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end.”

• “[C]ountless members of law enforcement are also members of the NRA, because our police know that responsible gun ownership saves lives, and that the right of self-defense is essential to public safety.”

• “Our police and sheriffs also know that when you ban guns, only the criminals will be armed.”

• “As your president, I will never, ever infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Never ever. Freedom is not a gift from government. Freedom is a gift from God.”

This is a refreshing change from Barack Obama’s anti-gun diatribes. Continuous record-setting gun sales in response to Obama’s clear distaste of firearms is the reason he earned the moniker “Gun Salesman of the Decade.” The recent gun sales decline speaks to this. Fewer guns are being purchased not because Americans are less gun-friendly but because they feel more comfortable with a pro-Second Amendment president. That said, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre cautions: “We must do all we can to support our president, because as you know, there’s an intense war that’s being waged by leftist zealots to destroy President Trump and destroy his administration. It’s up to us to speak up against the three most dangerous voices in America: academic elites, political elites, and media elites. These are America’s greatest domestic threats.”

Our own Mark Alexander was at this weekend’s confab. Stay tuned for his assessment in Wednesday’s column.