WASHINGTON, May 21 (UPI) — The National Rifle Association endorsed presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for president during its convention on Saturday.
Trump, who has in the past expressed support for gun control measures, delivered a stem-winder speech to some 7,000 NRA members who paid to attend his speech, calling Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, who he dubbed “Heartless Hillary,” “the most anti-gun … candidate ever to run for office.”
Trump also reflected on the Islamic State-inspired mass shooting in San Bernadino, Calif., and the Paris terrorist attacks, saying if more people had guns in those situations, fewer people would have died.
“If you would have had guns on the other side … there wouldn’t have been 130 people killed” in Paris, Trump said.
The NRA’s leadership looked past Trump prior statements in support of some gun control measures and urged its rank-and-file members to back the presumptive GOP nominee.
“Now it’s time to unite,” NRA Executive Director Chris Cox said. “If you’re preferred candidate dropped out of the race, it’s time to get over it.”
