WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump says gun owners should get ready to vote for Republicans.
He told the National Rifle Association Friday that his political opponents “want to take away your guns. You better get out there and vote.”
He spoke at the gun rights group’s annual convention for the third year in a row.
The event comes as longtime observers say the group is at its weakest moment in memory, due to serious infighting, financial issues and shifting public sentiment after a series of mass shootings.
Trump said the 2020 presidential and congressional elections are around the corner.
“It seems like it’s a long ways away. It’s not,” he said.
Prior the the president taking the stage, Vice President Mike Pence says that under the Trump administration, “no one is taking your guns.”
The line got a rousing applause from the National Rifle Association in Indianapolis, where Pence was introducing President Donald Trump at the gun lobby’s annual convention.
Pence, a former Indiana governor, told the crowd, “Under this president and this vice president no one is taking your guns.”
Trump is speaking to the convention for the third year in a row.
The NRA’s convention comes as longtime observers say the group is at its weakest moment in memory, due to serious infighting, financial issues and shifting public sentiment after a series of mass shootings.
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