The National Rifle Association on Monday endorsed Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey in her bid to win a second full term in office.
Ivey, in March, signed legislation abolishing the current state requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. The new law takes effect on January 1.
In a brief campaign event announcing the endorsement, Ivey said people in Alabama will stand up for their constitutional rights, including the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
“We demand them, and no one will ever take them away from us. I know they won’t be taking my Smith & Wesson from me either,” Ivey said.
Ivey faces several challengers in next month’s primary, including Lindy Blanchard, who was former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Slovenia, and Tim James, the son of former Gov. Fob James.
The NRA has regularly endorsed sitting governors in Alabama, where there has been no serious endeavor to pursue new gun control measures.
Alabama in 2020 had the nation’s fifth-highest rate of gun-related deaths – including suicides and murders — with 1,141 deaths, according to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
