During Donald Trump’s three presidential campaigns, and throughout his first term in office, he was the darling of the National Rifle Association. On the campaign trail, he would pantomime pulling out a six-gun, telling the crowd he had a concealed carry permit and was willing to use it. Each year, Trump would show up at the NRA’s annual convention to be feted like a god by an ecstatic crowd of jubilant supporters. He even had Lee Greenwood appear with him in 2017 to sing “God Bless the NRA.” There was no organization in America more devoted to him and his political career.
Oddly, Trump hasn’t bothered to show up during his second term. That doesn’t mean his administration is not hard at work delivering the promises he has long made to the NRA. These include, according to the New York Times, “more than three dozen rules” relating to gun safety it is attempting to “eliminate.” These include provisions to “raise the legal threshold for revoking a dealer’s license; extend gun rights to buyers who had faced restrictions because of mental illness or inability to manage their own finances; and end extra scrutiny of stabilizing braces, gun accessories that have been used in mass shootings to lethal effect.” In other words, they have reversed all the progress made under the Biden administration, loosening regulations even more.
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