Trump Suggest NRA Move Following Lawsuit

To call the National Rifle Association embattled would be putting it too mildly. The New York attorney general’s lawsuit against the organization is nothing less than an existential threat. She doesn’t mean to punish them for being naughty. She wants to destroy them so there’s no one left to oppose gun control, which she likely figures will make her a Democratic hero.

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To say the NRA is in a tough spot is like saying Biden sometimes seems a little confused.

When asked about what he thought, though, President Donald Trump had something of a bizarre suggestion.

President Trump said Thursday that the National Rifle Association should “move to Texas” in response to a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“That’s a very terrible thing that just happened. I think the NRA should move to Texas and lead a very good and beautiful life,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The NRA’s national headquarters are just outside Washington in Fairfax, Virginia.

Trump also blamed the organization’s financial woes on defending itself from lawsuits.

However, I’m still stuck on his “move to Texas” suggestion as a response to the legal action taking place against the NRA.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the NRA moving to a more pro-gun state makes a whole lot of sense. There’s absolutely no reason to feed into an anti-gun economy like what currently exists in Virginia. I can see reasons to wait for the next election cycle to pan out and see if they remain anti-gun, of course, but after that? There’s really no reason to stay.

And sure, Texas is certainly a viable option. There are a lot of NRA supporters in Texas, to be sure. I know quite a few of them.

But I fail to see how that will help with the litigation they’re currently facing. I mean, I guess operating in Texas may be less expensive and they can put up a good fight with what they save, but beyond that?

I don’t get it. The president’s response is just a little bizarre, from my perspective.

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Especially since there is so much else one can say about the lawsuit. He could have pointed out that it’s nothing but malicious lawfare designed to try and destroy a political opponent. He could have pointed out that the state of New York has waged its own persona jihad against the NRA since Parkland. He could have pointed any of that out.

Instead, he suggests packing up and moving.

That won’t make the lawsuit go away–it’s not like their proximity to New York plays a factor.

Gun rights supporters generally view President Trump as something of an ally, and there’s a reason for that. Despite his executive order on bump stocks, he was still better for gun rights than the alternative. The bump stock ban was going to happen anyway, at least with the order, Democrats didn’t get a laundry list of other bans they were looking at. Not ideal, but better than it could have been.

And yet, we get this response from the president on what is arguably the most important gun rights issue of the day? It’s just confusing.

Like, listening to Joe Biden talk for five minutes confusing.

 

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