NRA President Jim Porter: We’re going to flex our muscle in November

INDIANAPOLIS — National Rifle Association President Jim Porter said Saturday that flipping the U.S. Senate to Republican control is paramount for the group and that the group’s power in numbers will “flex that muscle” in November’s midterm elections.

Mr. Porter, speaking at the group’s annual meeting of members Saturday at the Indiana Convention Center, said that because of the group’s members, the country has witnessed its greatest advancement of Second Amendment freedom since the Bill of Rights was written.

“And come November, we’re going to prove that we’re not done yet,” he said.

“You know, I’m just a country lawyer from Alabama, and I surely don’t want to say anything today that might offend anyone,” he continued. “But I do know this: There’s an election in November. I’m going to be at the voting booth that day, and I know you’ll be there, too. And I plan on taking a few of my gun-owning friends, too. There’s nothing more important than who gets elected to the United States Senate.”

“And I surely don’t mean any disrespect to anyone,” he added, “but folks, it’s time that Majority Leader Harry Reid, that after the next elections, becomes the Minority Leader.”

Mr. Reid and the group have had a long working history, but the NRA declined to endorse him during his razor-thin 2010 re-election campaign against Republican Sharron Angle.

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But the Nevada Democrat has drawn the ire of gun rights supporters over the course of the last year after his unsuccessful push to expand gun purchase background checks in the U.S. Senate. He has said that he’d like to bring a background check bill up again, but he doesn’t yet have the votes.

“If you’re wondering where the NRA’s muscle is, it’s right here in this room,” Mr. Porter said. “And there’s millions more of us out there all across America, and we’re going to flex that muscle in November and the [November] after that, and I know you can’t wait until 2016.”