As Donald Trump and Texas governor Greg Abbott address the NRA Annual Meeting in Dallas, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Donald Trump and Greg Abbott are once again cozying up to the NRA as they push a dangerous MAGA agenda that puts the gun lobby ahead of the safety of our communities. While President Biden worked across the aisle to enact the most significant bipartisan gun safety legislation in decades, Trump and Abbott have bent the knee to the NRA at every turn and repeatedly railed against commonsense bipartisan reforms. The American people have had enough of MAGA Republicans’ out-of-touch, soft-on-crime agenda that allows guns to get into the hands of criminals instead of making America safer.”

Like Donald Trump, Greg Abbott has also put the gun lobby ahead of the safety of our communities. 

CNN: “Greg Abbott’s gun law avoidance strategy”

KHOU: “Gov. Abbott signs open carry, campus carry into law”

Texas Tribune: “Texans can carry handguns without a license or training starting Sept. 1, after Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday signed the permitless carry bill into law. House Bill 1927 eliminates the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if they’re not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing a gun.”

Texas Tribune: “Abbott’s Friday appearance in Uvalde came as he skipped the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, where he instead deliver pre-recorded remarks that were shown to the audience minutes before his news conference began. In the video address, Abbott continued to make clear he does not view gun restrictions as the answer to the massacre. ‘There are thousands of laws on the books across the country that [limit firearms] that have not stopped madmen from carrying out evil acts on innocent people and peaceful communities,’ Abbott said.” 

NBC News: “A year before Uvalde school shooting, Texas expanded gun rights”

“Gov. Greg Abbott in June signed seven laws, one of which allows people to legally carry handguns without licenses. … One of the laws passed last year authorizes so-called constitutional carry, which means law-abiding Texans, 21 or older, no longer need a license to carry a handgun in public.”

CNN: “Gun-loving Texas, where most households own a firearm, has become an epicenter of mass shootings”

2022: The NRA gave Abbott an A+ rating and endorsed his re-election campaign.

Houston Chronicle: Abbott has received $16,750 in contributions from the NRA as of May 2022.

Trump is running on a dangerous agenda and is railing against commonsense reforms like expanded background checks.

New York Times: “In the face of N.R.A. opposition, [Trump] has also retreated from his earlier openness to expanded background checks and a renewal of the expired ban on assault weapons.”

Trump:  “I will sign concealed carry reciprocity. Your Second Amendment does not end at the state line.”

CNN: “Trump suggests arming teachers as a solution to increase school safety”

Reuters: “[Trump] also called for eliminating gun-free school zones, adding that such zones leave victims with no means to defend themselves in case of an attack by an armed person.”

Trump won’t stop pandering to the NRA — which has given tens of millions of dollars to his campaigns — and earlier this year told school shooting victims to “get over it.”

New York Magazine: “President Trump met with survivors of the Parkland school shooting and attempted to convey a sincere intention to act. … What happened next was predictable. Trump met with the head of the NRA. He stopped talking about the issue he was going to solve.”

Rolling Stone: “Trump on Iowa School Shooting: ‘Get Over It’”

“A day after a gunman killed a sixth grade student and wounded five other people at Perry High School northwest of Des Moines, Donald Trump returned to the state at a campaign event and told residents that they ‘have to get over it.’”

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

NBC News: “Trump says mass shootings are not ‘a gun problem’ as 2024 GOP hopefuls pledge loyalty to the NRA”

New York Magazine: “After Taunting Republicans for Being Afraid of NRA, Trump Gives In to NRA”

Washington Post: “After latest shooting, Trump pushes Facebook ads ‘straight from the NRA playbook’”

Politico: “Former President Donald Trump on Friday addressed the National Rifle Association’s annual conference in Houston … just three days after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.”

CNN: “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. Former President Donald Trump … attended the gathering.”

Yahoo News: “The gun-rights group spent $54 million during the 2016 election cycle, including $30 million to help Donald Trump get elected president.”

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.”

Trump made the gun epidemic WORSE as president, refusing to pass commonsense gun reform and making it easier for criminals to carry guns — all while the murder rate skyrocketed.

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

“President Trump on Monday abandoned his promise to work for gun control measures opposed by the National Rifle Association, bowing to the gun group and embracing its agenda of armed teachers and incremental improvements to the background check system.”

The Hill: “The [Trump] White House on Monday issued a statement warning that President Trump would veto proposed legislation to enhance background checks for gun purchases if it passes the House and Senate.”

Politico: “Trump quietly used regulations to expand gun access”

Associated Press: “FBI: 2020 homicides up nearly 30%, largest 1-year jump ever”

Philadelphia Inquirer: “The Council on Criminal Justice, a D.C.-based research group, found that homicides in 21 American cities were up 32% between March and October compared with 2019. And some analysts believe 2020 could record the largest-ever single-year increase in murders in the United States.”