Editing National Rifle Association (section)

===Political involvement===
[[File:President Trump Delivers Remarks at the NRA Annual Meeting (40741376913).jpg|thumb|President Trump speaks at the 2019 NRA Institute for Legislative Action annual convention.]]
In 1995, former US president [[George H. W. Bush]] resigned his life membership to the organization after receiving a National Rifle Association Institute of Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) fund-raising letter, signed by executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, that referred to [[BATF|ATF]] agents as "jack-booted government thugs".<ref name=Butterfield950508>{{cite news |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |date=May 8, 1995 |title=Terror in Oklahoma: Echoes of the N.R.A.; Rifle Association Has Long Practice In Railing Against Federal Agents |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/08/us/terror-oklahoma-echoes-nra-rifle-association-has-long-practice-railing-against.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=April 7, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=BushGHWLetter>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/11/us/letter-of-resignation-sent-by-bush-to-rifle-association.html |title=Letter of Resignation Sent By Bush to Rifle Association |last=Bush |first=George H.W. |date=May 11, 1995 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 7, 2014 }}</ref> The NRA later apologized for the letter's language.<ref name=Keil950518>{{cite news |last=Keil |first=Richard |date=May 18, 1995 |title=NRA Apologizes for 'Jack Boot' Letter |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19950518/2121718/nra-apologizes-for-jack-boot-letter |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] }}</ref>

In December 2008, ''[[The New York Times]]'' editorial board criticized the NRA's attacks, which it called false and misleading, on [[Barack Obama]]'s presidential campaign.<ref name=NYTEd081201>{{cite news |author=Editorial board |date=December 1, 2008 |title=The Gun Lobby's Loss |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/opinion/02tue3.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=December 3, 2008 }}</ref>

After US president [[Donald Trump]]'s election, the NRA closely aligned with him.<ref name="Peters-2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/us/politics/nratv-nra-news-media-operation.html|title=Where the N.R.A. Speaks First and Loudest|date=February 21, 2018|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 22, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> At an event in February 2018, Trump said that he was a "big fan of the NRA" but said that "doesn't mean we have to agree on everything."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-publicly-spars-with-republicans-over-concealed-carry-nra-influence-at-school-safety-session/|title=Trump publicly spars with Republicans over concealed carry, NRA influence at school safety session|last=Pappas|first=Alex|date=February 28, 2018|website=[[Fox News]]|access-date=February 28, 2018|language=en}}</ref>

Although the NRA has previously donated to and endorsed Democratic candidates, it has become more closely affiliated with the Republican Party since the 1990s. In 2016, only two Democratic House candidates received donations from the NRA, compared to 115 in the 1992 elections, in a reflection of decreasing Democratic support for the NRA and its mission.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/24/politics/nra-partisan-bipartisan-republican/index.html|title=The NRA used to be much more bipartisan. Now it's mostly just a wing of the GOP|date=February 24, 2018|website=[[CNN.com]]|access-date=February 25, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Self-identified Republicans are far more likely to hold a positive view of the NRA than are Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Reinhart |first1=RJ |title=Record U.S. Partisan Divide on Views of the NRA |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/236315/record-partisan-divide-views-nra.aspx |website=Gallup |date=June 28, 2018 |access-date=December 13, 2018}}</ref><ref name=Enten-2018>{{cite news |last1=Enten |first1=Harry |date=February 24, 2018 |title=The NRA used to be much more bipartisan. Now it's mostly just a wing of the GOP |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/24/politics/nra-partisan-bipartisan-republican/index.html |work=[[CNN]] |access-date=December 25, 2019 |quote=During his speech Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre launched an attack on the Democratic Party and its "socialist agenda." The speech marked just how partisan gun policy, and thus the NRA, has become. ...Clearly, the NRA has no place in the Democratic Party anymore. The party is far more liberal overall and more liberal on guns in particular.}}</ref>