Former President Trump made a new vow to National Rifle Association (NRA) members Friday, promising stronger protections for Second Amendment rights if he’s reelected in November.
“I promise you this, with me at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, no one will lay a finger on your firearms — just as took place for four years when I was your president,” Trump said during his keynote address Friday at an NRA event in Harrisburg, Pa. “I will uphold those glorious words, ‘shall not be infringed.'”
“Every pledge I made to you as a candidate in 2016, I fulfilled as your president,” he added, heralding his appointment of almost 300 federal judges and 3 Supreme Court justices that he called “pro-Constitution warriors” who “interpret the law as written.”
In his pitch to the NRA, he highlighted his moves in 2019 to remove the U.S. from the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, said he “canceled” former President Obama’s “corrupt use” of the Social Security data as part of the process for approving or denying gun licenses — and his ban on 3-D printed guns — and his push for hunter’s rights.
“The right to self defense does not end when you step outside the front door of your house,” he said during the event — a de facto campaign stop.
“On day one of my new term, I will stop Joe Biden’s war on lawful, gun owners,” Trump added. “It’s a war. What they’re doing is crazy.”
Trump, who has called himself the “most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment” president, made a similar vow when he addressed the NRA in April, pledging to be a “loyal friend” to the gun rights advocacy group and claiming he “saved” the Second Amendment when in the White House.
Trump’s latest remarks come just a day after he emerged victorious in the Nevada and Virgin Island caucuses, likely creating an even wider gap in the race against the only other major candidate still in the race, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, making a rematch between him and President Biden even more likely in November.
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The next voting contest will take place in South Carolina on Feb. 24. Despite a slew of primary losses and pressure from other conservatives to drop and endorse Trump, Haley has vowed to stay in the race.
Trump is leading Haley in the Palmetto State by double digits — 62.5 percent to 30.6 percent — according to polling averages from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ.