There’s no question that the Trump win was a boon for gun rights. Hillary Clinton was an openly anti-gun candidate who appeared to not believe in the Second Amendment at all. She was committed to stacking the Supreme Court with justices who were against gun rights, and pushing for legislation for increased gun controls. Meanwhile, Trump was endorsed by the NRA and consistently stated his position as a champion of gun rights, promising for a slew of gun rights bills in addition to pro-2A Supreme Court nominations. There were likely many voters in this election who were so concerned with gun rights that they simply felt they had no choice but to vote for Trump. In swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin, gun rights voters coming out in force could have been the difference between winning and losing.
It is important to note that Trump has historically not been friendly to gun rights. In his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, he called out Republicans who “walk the NRA line” and “refuse even limited restrictions” on firearms. He seemed to be supporting a ban on “evil black rifles”, and using nomenclature that has been commonly used by the gun control crowd to denigrate their owners. A flip-flop of these proportions is quite epic, and it is worth questioning if Trump merely did it to gain the necessary support to win. While he could be a wild card for gun rights, and his position supporting them cannot be taken for granted, let’s examine the proposals put forward by Trump’s team, and see what could be in store for gun rights.
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