Usa news: Undeterred by recent mass shootings, Donald Trump and other Republican presidential hopefuls pledged their fealty to gun owners’ rights during a Friday convention of the National Rifle Association.

While mass killings in Nashville and Louisville put more political pressure on Republicans to support some kind of gun control, the Republicans told the powerful gun lobby that the Second Amendment is sacrosanct.

“This is not a gun problem, this is a mental health problem, this is a social problem, this is a cultural problem, this is a spiritual problem,” Trump said during a candidate forum sponsored by the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.

The National Rifle Association held its convention in Indianapolis within two weeks of two more mass shootings, one at a school in Nashville and the other at a bank in Louisville.

Democrats jeered the GOP for its parade of candidates before the NRA and said guns will be a major issue throughout the 2024 election year.

The “Republican extreme records on guns will be on full display” throughout the campaign, said Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

The GOP candidates visited the NRA in very different political positions. Trump is dealing with his recent indictment, while prospective rivals like Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, and Nikki Haley are looking for traction in the still-evolving 2024 Republican presidential race.