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NRA volunteer Marty Goodman of Cookeville takes a turn shooting an air gun at the "Pyramyd Air" Air Gun range during the NRA convention at Music City Center on April 9, 2015.(Photo: Shelley Mays, AP)
NASHVILLE — At the National Rifle Association's annual meeting, it's not enough for any speaker to get up and pledge their love for guns.
For Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz and the other GOP heavyweights featured Friday in Nashville, the NRA leadership forum went far beyond the Second Amendment.
In what's shaping up to be a crowded Republican presidential primary, the politicians used the event to tout gun and conservative policy bona fides before thousands who know guns and are likely to vote Republican.
Walker, Wisconsin's union-fighting Republican governor, and Cruz, Texas' outspoken Republican senator, received some of the biggest cheers during the marathon forum. Both noted their high ratings with the NRA before bashing President Obama and delivering their own views on how to lead the nation.
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"In a Republican primary, every candidate's going to stand up and say, 'I oppose Obamacare,'" said Cruz, the only declared presidential candidate in Nashville and the last to speak. "The question we ought to ask is, 'Great, when have you stood up and fought Obamacare?'
"Every candidate is going to say they don't support amnesty. All right, great. When have you stood up and fought to stop the president's illegal and unconstitutional executive action?"
Cruz wandered the stage, relying on a lavalier microphone and no teleprompter as he warned of the dangers facing what he fears is an unprepared nation.
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Walker also used every corner of the stage, rolling up his sleeves and clutching a cordless microphone as he berated the president for, in his opinion, picking and choosing the portions of the constitution to enforce. One of the first people to take the stage, Walker spoke at length about growing up in Wisconsin, specifically mentioning his family's modest means.
"My parents and grandparents, probably like many of you here, we didn't inherit fame or fortune from our family. We inherited something more important: the belief that if you work hard and you play by the rules, you can do and be anything you want in America," Walker said to a standing ovation.
Neal Dwelley, a 50-year-old aircraft mechanic from South Berwick, Maine, said he thought most of the speakers sounded pretty similar. But his wife, Christine Dwelley, said she was most impressed by Cruz.
"I love him (Cruz)," said Dwelley, a 48-year-old registered nurse. Dwelley has two children in the military — a daughter in the Air Force and a son in the National Guard. "He's done a lot to keep Second Amendment rights for us. I believe he would be the strong leader that we, and our military, need."
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It's obvious they wanted to talk about the Second Amendment, said Terry Brown, a 64-year-old office manager from Stafford, Va. "But Scott Walker talked about how people can't depend on the government. I thought he was good. He wasn't just pandering to NRA members."
Nearly 4,000 people attended the political event, which ran for more than four hours. Sen. Bob Corker was the only Tennessee lawmaker to address the crowd.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre set a confrontational tone early by skipping directly to the 2016 general election against likely Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
"I vow on this day the NRA will stand shoulder to shoulder with you and good, honest decent Americans and we will stand and fight with everything we've got and in 2016, by God, we will elect the next great president of the United States of America and it will not be Hillary Rodham Clinton," LaPierre said.
LaPierre, always an inflammatory speaker, skewered the Clintons with a highlight reel of controversies dating back to Bill Clinton's time as governor of Arkansas and through Hillary Clinton's service as Secretary of State. His criticism went way beyond Clinton's record on guns.
"She will not bring a dawn of new promise and opportunity," LaPierre said. "It would be a permanent darkness of deceit and despair forced upon the American people to endure."
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The lineup of Republican speakers that followed had similar themes of protecting Second Amendment rights from liberal gun-control advocates, but they varied in their level of passion and detail on the topic.
Jeb Bush gave a substantive rundown of the pro-gun and pro-hunting bills he signed as governor of Florida that was received warmly, but overall his speech was rushed and failed to ignite any rowdy responses from the crowd.
"I will match my record against anyone else when it comes to support and defense of the Second Amendment," Bush said.
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He didn't talk about his personal use of firearms and instead focused on the legal and political battles over gun rights, highlighting Florida laws on "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" that allow people to defend themselves with lethal force.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is expected to announce his candidacy next week in Miami, said national security and Second Amendment rights must be a key focus for the next president.
Blasting Obama on national security, foreign policy and an administration he said provides a general lack of leadership, Rubio gave a speech more common to the campaign trail than a gun rally.
"President Obama has been a weak president. The only thing President Obama has strengthened over the last six years has been his own unlawful power," Rubio said.
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Rubio focused a large part of his speech on the threat of radical Islam, arguing most Muslims condemn the attacks of groups like the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. But he argued the president has not done enough to condemn attacks like the one at French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
"And so Mr. President, if condemning that puts us on a high horse, I suggest we saddle up," Rubio said.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he is still undecided on whether to run for president again, but he delivered a theatrical and feisty speech with a Texas twang. He said the 2016 election will not be about "lofty rhetoric."
"It's going to be about record of leadership," Perry said. "It's going to be a show me, not tell me election, where voters will look past what you say to what you've done. They want a leader with firm resolve, a leader who says what he means and means what he says."
Other speakers included Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Dr. Ben Carson, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, billionaire Donald Trump, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Contributing: Anita Wadwhani, The Tennessean
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