With the midterm elections fast approaching, the NRA is announcing its endorsement of Mike Braun (R) for Senate.

Braun is a pro-Second Amendment candidate running against gun control Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN).

Donnelly voiced support for a number of gun controls just days after February 14, 2018, attack on Stoneman Douglas High School. In that attack a man carried a legally acquired rifle into a gun-free zone and opened fired, killing 17 defenseless innocents.

The Daily Journal reports that Donnelly responded to the attack by pushing universal background checks and arguing for adding the terror watch list to the list of prohibited persons for firearms purchases. Neither of these measures would have prevented or even hindered the February 14 attack.  Why? Because the gunman passed a background check for weapon and also because he was not on a terror watch list.

However, Donnelly’s universal background checks would have succeeded in outlawing private gun sales for law-abiding citizens and would have also put the due process rights of law-abiding citizens in jeopardy, via watch list inclusion.

The NRA stands with Mike Braun in the race to unseat Donnelly (and Donnelly’s gun control agenda). The NRA describes Braun as “an avid hunter and outdoorsman, has long advocated for the Second Amendment and firearm safety, earning an ‘A’ rating from the NRA.”

Braun responded to the endorsement, saying, “My  dad gave me my first shotgun when I was 10 years old and I still use it to this day. I am honored to accept the NRA’s endorsement and to work with them to fight Democrat attacks on Hoosiers’ fundamental right to bear arms and defend their families.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.