The NRA Just Endorsed Donald Trump

The National Rifle Association just gave its endorsement to Republican presidential candidate, and de facto nominee, Donald Trump.

According to NBC News, Donald Trump was about to take the stage and speak at the NRA's national convention when Chris Cox, the executive director of the group's lobbying arm who was introducing the candidate, told the crowd that "we have to unite and we have to unite right now."

"If your preferred candidate dropped out of the race, it's time to get over it," Cox added.

In a speech following the endorsement, Trump earned his keep, announcing that the Second Amendment is "under a threat like never before," and calling Hillary Clinton the "most anti-gun [candidate] ever to run for office." He added that the presumptive Democratic nominee "wants to abolish the Second Amendment," and "wants to take your guns away."

The remarks set the stage for a deeply partisan fight over gun rights going into the general election. Last week, Clinton went on the offensive on issue, tweeting that Trump plans to "force schools to allow guns in classrooms on his first day in office."

FACT: Donald Trump would force schools to allow guns in classrooms on his first day in office. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton)May 14, 2016

During a speech in Iowa this January, Trump did promise to eliminate all "gun free zones" on school campuses and military bases on his first day in the Oval Office.

As The Trace reported last month, not all gun advocates are excited about a Trump presidency, and expressed kepticism about the Republican candidate's relatively recent embrace of shooting guns and protecting the Second Amendment.

As one NRA member put it in an interview with The Guardian this week, "Usually, people are pretty loud about it if they're shooters…You never really heard Trump say anything about it for a while before the election."

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