Donald Trump made history overnight by becoming likely the only U.S. President since Grover Cleveland to win non-consecutive terms in the White House.
Although the election results are not final, most large media outlets that monitor ballot returns, including the Associated Press, Washington Post, and New York Times, by 5.45 a.m. on Wednesday had called the presidential race for Republican candidate Donald Trump. Trump's trail to become the 47th president after having been the 45th came via scooping up crucial swing state wins in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In the states that had not been called by Wednesday morning, Trump was leading.
Trump ran on a pro-Second Amendment platform while his competitor, Vice President Kamala Harris (D), was decidedly in favor of gun control.
Speaking at the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in February, Trump vowed, if re-elected, to undo all restrictions enacted by the Biden-Harris administration.
"Every single Biden attack on gun owners and manufacturers will be terminated my very first week back in office, perhaps my first day," said Trump in a 77-minute speech.
Speaking at the 2024 NRAAM in Dallas in May, Trump doubled down, promising to sack the head of the ATF "at noon" on inauguration day and to "roll back every Biden attack on the Second Amendment."
Senate Polarity Flip
Going further into the election night returns, the Republicans are set to pick up at least three seats in the U.S. Senate, giving them 52 positions in the 100-seat senior chamber of Congress. This includes unseating anti-gun Democrats in Ohio and Montana. Meanwhile, senate races in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin remain too close to call as of Wednesday morning. A big L for gun control groups is the loss of Democrat challenger Colin Allred in Texas, a candidate that was funded by a $78 million war chest.
House?
In the U.S. House, the GOP held ground early Wednesday on at least 197 seats to the Democrats' 177 with 218 needed to control the chamber. In the uncalled races, Republicans held the lead in 25 – putting them in striking distance of controlling the body – while the Dems had the upper hand in 36, the latter figure still only enough to garner 213 seats should the trend continue.
Spending from Gun Groups
In the background to gun policy spending, the National Rifle Association spent some $10.1 million during the 2024 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission data maintained by OpenSecrets.
This rivaled Bloomberg-backed anti-gun group Everytown, which spent $9.4 million while Giffords chipped in another $7.1 million.
The NRA congratulated President Trump on his hard-fought victory on Wednesday, with the following statement:
Gun owners across the country will once again have a strong advocate for their Second Amendment rights in the White House.
The NRA-PVF endorsed President Trump in May of 2016 in his first successful run for president, and since then he has been a steadfast advocate for NRA members and our freedoms.
This election year, NRA engaged heavily with our members and America’s gun owners to turn out the vote for President Trump and pro-gun candidates up and down the ballot.
We are proud to have also helped deliver a pro-gun majority in the U.S. Senate to work with President Trump to defend the right to keep and bear arms.
