DALLAS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has urged gun owners to vote in the 2024 election as he addressed thousands of members of the National Rifle Association, which officially endorsed him just before Trump took the stage at their annual meeting in Texas. Trump on Saturday pledged to continue to defend the Second Amendment and called himself “the best friend gun owners have ever had in the White House.” The United States faces record numbers of deaths due to mass shootings. Last year ended with 42 mass killings and 217 deaths, making it one of the deadliest years on record.