The RNC this week released its first party platform since 2016, and the right to keep and bear arms got a tip of the hat.
The party, only a week out from its National Convention in Milwaukee, released its official platform on Monday. The 16-page document, dedicated "To the Forgotten Men and Women of America," was linked from President Trump's official campaign website and tackles a variety of issues starting with illegal migration, the economy, energy policy, and tax cuts before turning, briefly, to gun rights.
Although the platform does not directly address the growing series of constitutionally suspect anti-gun rules put forward by federal regulators at the behest of the White House in the past three years, or even mention the Second Amendment or "guns" directly, it does at least include the right to keep and bear arms in its seventh of 20 key points.
From the platform (which has all of the following in full caps):
1. SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION.
2. CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
3. END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN.
4. MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!
5. STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER.
6. LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
7. DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS.
8. PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY -- ALL MADE IN AMERICA.
9. END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
10. STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS.
11. REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
12. STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD.
13. KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY.
14. FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE.
15. CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS.
16. CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN.
17. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS.
18. DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN.
19. SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP.
20. UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS.
Compare this to the pro-gun section of the RNC's 67-page 2016 platform, which went a bit more in-depth and touched on concealed carry reciprocity and other goals:
Meanwhile, Trump's 2024 campaign website leans a bit more into support of gun rights, saying, "He will also always defend your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and uphold your religious liberty, including the Constitutional right to pray in public schools," while pointing out that, while in the White House, he appointed nearly 300 federal judges "to interpret the Constitution as written and preserve the extraordinary vision of our founding fathers."
Banner image: President Donald Trump is seen on a screen addressing the Leadership Conference at the NRA 2019 Annual Meetings in Indianapolis. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
