DNC National Press Secretary Emilia Rowland released the following statement: 

“On National Gun Violence Awareness Day, let’s remember the contrast this November: President Biden’s record of working across the aisle to pass the most expansive federal gun safety legislation in decades and establishing the first White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention vs. Trump and MAGA Republicans’ record of pledging their allegiance to the NRA. Whether they’re attending the NRA’s events in the wake of devastating school shootings or caving to the NRA to oppose commonsense gun safety legislation while taking their campaign donations, Republicans have made it clear where they stand. There’s no mistaking where MAGA Republicans’ loyalty lies: amid a gun violence epidemic they refuse to adequately recognize, they’re putting the NRA’s deadly agenda over the safety of our children and all Americans’ lives.” 

Donald Trump is a self-proclaimed big fan of the NRA and told its members that he was proud to do “nothing” on gun control legislation. 

Trump: “There’s no bigger fan of the NRA [than me.]”

Daily Beast: “Former President Donald Trump boasted to a gathering of National Rifle Association members Friday in Pennsylvania that his administration ‘did nothing’ about guns.”

“‘During my four years, nothing happened!’ he bellowed. ‘And there was great pressure on me having to do with guns. We did nothing. We didn’t yield.’”

Trump told school shooting victims “to get over it,” just a day after a gunman killed an elementary schooler and injured seven others.

NBC News: “Trump tells supporters ‘we have to get over it’ after Iowa school shooting”

“‘It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But have to get over it, we have to move forward,’ he added.

“The shooting, just days before the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, took the life of a sixth grader and injured seven others, including students and school staff members, officials said.”

Emboldened by Trump’s callousness, MAGA Republicans have been quick to dismiss the families of gun control victims by running to the NRA after mass shootings. 

In Indiana: “A slew of 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls courted gun rights activists Friday at a National Rifle Association convention in Indianapolis that took place in the wake of mass shootings in Kentucky and Tennessee in recent days.

In Indiana: “Indiana Republican lawmakers honor NRA one day after mass shooting in Louisville”

“Days before the NRA convention descends on Indianapolis and one day after a mass shooting in Louisville, Indiana’s Republican lawmakers passed a resolution honoring the National Rifle Association and its CEO, Wayne LaPierre…

“But the resolution, and especially its timing, is also getting serious scrutiny.

“It comes days after a school shooting killed three adults and three children in Nashville, Tennessee and 24 hours after five lives were lost to gunfire in at a bank in Louisville.”

In Michigan: “One day after Uvalde shooting, Michigan GOP Senators reject vote on safe gun storage”

In South Dakota: “South Dakota Public Broadcasting: Noem to speak at NRA convention days after Texas school shooting”

In Texas: “Trump, Cruz, Abbott still set to speak at NRA meeting in Houston days after Uvalde mass shooting”

In Virginia: “WTVR: Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears scheduled to speak at NRA convention in Texas”

“The convention will take place just days after 21 people, including 19 children, were killed at a Texas elementary school by a lone gunman.”

At the 2023 NRA convention: “Holcomb, Pence and Braun appeared as featured speakers for the organization’s Institute for Legislative Action Leadership Forum, the lobbying arm of the NRA, on Friday…

“[Pence] acknowledged the two recent shootings in Kentucky and Tennessee, which together killed over a dozen people, including three 9-year-old children…

“Three other governors, both current and former, addressed the crowd: former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.”

The NRA has spent millions to relentlessly lobby against gun control legislation, even in the wake of mass shootings.

Wall Street Journal: “The National Rifle Association says it is ready to aggressively lobby against federal and state gun-control measures being considered in the wake of recent mass shootings in Georgia and Colorado, even as it remains in bankruptcy and beset by lawsuits and investigations into its business practices.”

Washington Post: “Even as National Rifle Association leaders are called to testify in the second week of a bankruptcy trial, the gun rights organization is launching plans to lobby Congress against gun-control measures backed by President Biden and leading Democrats. 

“On Wednesday evening, the gun-rights group announced a $2 million campaign to fight Biden’s agenda, including opposing his nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.”

Trump repeatedly changed the federal government’s approach to gun control policies to align with the NRA’s desires. 

Washington Post: “White House softens tone on gun-control measures after Trump meets with NRA”

New York Times: “N.R.A. Gets Results on Gun Laws in One Phone Call With Trump”

“The call ended the way that Mr. LaPierre had hoped it would: with Mr. Trump espousing N.R.A. talking points in the Oval Office and warning of the radical steps he said Democrats wanted to take in violation of the Second Amendment.”

New York Times: “Conceding to N.R.A., Trump Abandons Brief Gun Control Promise”

“After the Florida high school massacre last month, Mr. Trump explicitly called on live television for raising the age limit to purchase rifles and backed 2013 legislation for near-universal background checks. He later told lawmakers that while the N.R.A. has ‘great power over you people, they have less power over me.’

“But on Monday, it was the president who seemed to knuckle under, again dramatizing the sway that the N.R.A. still maintains in Republican circles.”

Vanity Fair: “The Trump Administration Gave the NRA ‘Veto Power’ Over Its Response to the Parkland Massacre, New Book Reveals”

“In the end, of course, he did jack sh*t to get a universal background check bill passed, an about-face that can probably be attributed in part to the fact that Trump was reportedly being advised on gun control by his eldest son, who famously gets his kicks hunting endangered species and posing for photos alongside his victims. Another thing that probably played a part? Trump’s well-known fealty to the National Rifle Association, which spent more than $30 million to help get him elected in 2016. According to a new report, that money effectively bought the organization ‘veto power’ when it came to even the smallest effort to address gun violence.

“According to Taylor, then secretary of education Betsy DeVos initially supported Venable, before beginning to ‘waver’ under pressure from the White House, and eventually fully caving once Trump ‘personally got involved to insist the NRA have a say in the report.’ Venable would ultimately quit before the report was released, and not surprisingly, the whole thing was devoid of any meaningful recommendations.’”

The NRA has spent over $100 million to help elect Republicans in the last decade.  

Fortune: “For instance, in 2020, the NRA alone spent over $12 million campaigning against Biden and another $4.5 million in favor of Donald Trump.”

Yahoo Finance: “The National Rifle Association does spend a lot of money on politics, which makes it seem like a giant right-wing bogeyman. The gun-rights group spent $54 million during the 2016 election cycle, including $30 million to help Donald Trump get elected president. Among outside groups helping fund elections, it ranked 11th, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.”

Federal Election Commission: MAGA Mike Johnson has received donations from the NRA every election year since 2016.