Watch Replay: President Trump Speaks At NRA Convention In Atlanta

ATLANTA, GA — President Donald Trump landed in Atlanta a little after 1 p.m. Friday to speak at the National Rifle Association's annual convention. Trump arrived on stage at the Georgia World Congress Center about 2 p.m. for the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum on the convention's opening day.

He immediately plugged Georgia House of Representatives 6th District candidate Karen Handel, saying, "I'd like to congratulate Karen Handel for her incredible fight in Georgia 6." He said that Handel was "totally for the NRA, totally for gun rights."

He also chided the Georgia Republican Party for having 11 candidates in the April 18 special election running for one 6th District seat. He said "let's not have" that again ... "it's too nerve-shattering."

Trump also used the occasion to take a shot at the Obama administration while speaking directly to gun owners: "The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end," he said.

"You have a true friend and champion in the White House. No longer will federal agencies be coming after law-abiding gun owners. No longer will the government be trying to undermine your rights and your freedoms as Americans. Instead we will work with you by your side. We will work with the NRA to promote responsible gun ownership to protect our wonderful hunters and their access to the very beautiful outdoors."

The visit marks the first time a sitting president has addressed an NRA annual convention since Ronald Reagan in 1983. Later, Trump is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for Handel. (For more local Atlanta coverage, subscribe to the Atlanta Patch. For more coverage of national politics, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Watch a replay of the event below.

Trump spoke in Hall A3 of the Congress Center in downtown Atlanta, part of an area that he called "falling apart" and "crime infested" earlier this year in a Twitter rant against Rep. John Lewis, who represents it as part of Atlanta's 5th Congressional District.

The three-day NRA convention is expected to draw more than 80,000 people to the Georgia World Congress Center.

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