USA - NRA: GOP hopefuls flock to NRA cattle call - by Jose A. DelReal and Colby Itkowitz

NRA: start teaching them when they are young

Nearly all of the 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls were onstage Friday at the National Rifle Association's annual leadership conference in Nashville, a GOP cattle-call of sorts that gave the potential candidates a chance to trumpet their Second Amendment bona fides.

Attendees heard from a majority of the GOP's first- and second-tier presidential primary contenders, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Texas governor Rick Perry, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businessman Donald Trump.

Notable absences? Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, both of whom have a prickly relationship with the NRA and were not invited to attend -- Paul because of his affiliation with another gun-rights group and Christie who scores low on the NRA's scorecard. Paul told Bloomberg that it was the group's loss, not his: "To not be invited, probably, will serve more to cast aspersions on their group than it would on me. Because my record's pretty clear. It probably looks a little bit petty for them not to invite a major candidate because I raised money for other Second Amendment groups."

Read more: GOP hopefuls flock to NRA cattle call - The Washington Post