Republicans are rolling out their party platform for the election.

But something is very different about what the Party is promising than in the past. 

And Donald Trump made one big change to the GOP platform that left everyone asking this scary question.

Party platform drops mentions of gun rights

The Republican Party’s platform brought some drastic changes from years past. The Republican National Committee (RNC) Platform Committee voted overwhelmingly to adopt a party platform said to reflect the policies of former President Donald Trump. It became the first GOP platform since 2016 after the Party skipped it during the 2020 Election.

The 2024 GOP platform was only 16 pages, down from 66 in 2016. And the Second Amendment was barely mentioned in the platform. The one reference to it comes in a preamble for the 20 promises that a Republican White House and Congress would accomplish.

“Defend our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, our fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to keep and bear arms.” The GOP platform states in promise number seven, “The final product omits any discussion of tangible gun policy ideas.”

The 2016 GOP platform spelled out more specific gun rights policies and goals. It had a section on the Second Amendment outlining what the Party opposed and what it hoped to achieve.

“We support firearm reciprocity legislation to recognize the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families in all 50 states,” the 2016 GOP platform states. “We support constitutional carry statutes and salute the states that have passed them.”

Supporting Constitutional Carry is a bold position. In 2016 only 10 states had passed it – compared to 29 now.  The newly-added states are a testament to the hard work of gun rights activists and the uncompromising organizations organizing the grassroots to advance the policy and defeat the establishment in many states who opposed it then. Unfortunately, there’s still a long way to go and there’s no guarantees those laws will stand unless citizens remain vigilant. After all, there are plenty of politicians who remain opposed to citizens exercising their freedoms fully.  Likewise, plenty of them would quickly change their tune if they believed it would benefit their political situation.

Support of Constitutional Carry isn’t the only bold policy language struck from the new platform in favor of the blanket catch all. 

“We oppose ill-conceived laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle,” the 2016 GOP platform continued. “We also oppose any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law. We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and the current Administration’s illegal harassment of firearm dealers. We oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners, registration of ammunition, and restoration of the ill-fated Clinton gun ban.”

All of those specific declarations from the 2016 Republican Platform are now gone, erased by the 2024 Platform Committee. 

Should gun owners worry about the GOP platform’s pared-down policy positions?

Trump and his campaign insiders were the driving force behind what was included in this year’s GOP platform. His campaign officials celebrated its passage, defending the new planks as “concise and digestible.”

“President Trump’s 2024 Republican Party Platform articulates his vision to Make America Great Again in a way that is concise and digestible for every voter,” Trump Campaign Senior Advisors Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a press release. “While Joe Biden and Democrats argue about who will be at the top of their ticket and have implemented policies that have raised prices on everyday families, opened the floodgates to migrant crime via wide-open borders, shackled American energy with red tape forced by Washington bureaucrats, and sewn chaos across the world through weak foreign policy, President Trump will Make America Great Again through these America First principles.”

Some gun owners were upset about the lack of specifics in the platform. What is or isn’t in the platform doesn’t have much if any bearing on what happens politically when the GOP has power. The GOP platform called for eliminating the Department of Education for decades but there’s never been a serious push to make that happen. A 10-page section on the Second Amendment wouldn’t change the political reality in Washington, D.C.’s “Swamp” like involved citizens and mobilized grassroots muscle can.

The length of the platform was significantly pared down this year compared to 2016. Axios reported that the Trump campaign wanted a simple platform that would appeal to specific groups of voters they’re targeting. In their eyes it has been shifted from a set of ideals to something that could be used as more of a campaign tool. 

Keep Fully Loaded Magazine in your sights to stay on top of exactly what the Gun Control Lobby is plotting, how guns actually make Americans safer, and fun stories surrounding the regular exercise of your Second Amendment freedoms.