Groups gripe that Trump didn’t talk gun control in State of Union address (VIDEO)

President Donald Trump covered a number of topics in his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday but largely skipped gun politics.

Moving through the economy, jobs, and international trade, Trump spoke to the need to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, fix immigration policy and strengthen national security. Though he did give a nod to “strangers shielding strangers from a hail of gunfire on the Las Vegas strip” in speaking to American heroes, he largely did not address the subject of gun regulation, in a departure from past addresses given during the Obama era.

While on the campaign trail last year Trump spoke to eliminating gun free zones and protecting carry rights, he briefly mentioned the right to keep and bear arms to Congress this week.

Addressing the courts, the President said “Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court Justice, and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country,” then followed up by saying, “We are defending our Second Amendment, and have taken historic actions to protect religious liberty.”

Skipping the rhetoric on gun regulation by the President drew scorn from groups seeking to expand and strengthen background checks and otherwise retard moves to allow more legal firearms in more places.

“In his State of the Union address tonight, President Trump began his remarks by mentioning mass shootings that horrified the nation, but for the remaining 75 minutes he failed to detail even one policy solution to address America’s gun violence crisis,” said former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords in a statement.

While simultaneously sending fundraising emails to their membership during the speech, the Bloomberg-backed Everytown and Moms Demand Action organization blasted gun rights groups for spending big to help get Trump into the White House.

“It’s shameful that we heard nothing from President Trump tonight about reducing gun violence in America, but it’s also no surprise, given the gun lobby’s $30 million investment in his candidacy,” said Shannon Watts, founder of the Moms group.

For its part, the National Rifle Association on Tuesday released a message from executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre saying the group was “Donald Trump’s strongest, most unflinching ally. The powerful partner he needs to get things done on behalf of American freedom.”

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