Republican Donald Trump has sparked anger by appearing to suggest his supporters could stop his rival Hillary Clinton by exercising their gun rights.
He said that Mrs Clinton would put liberal justices on the Supreme Court if she wins the presidency in November, threatening gun ownership rights.
Speaking at a rally in North Carolina, Mr Trump hinted that gun rights advocates could stop her taking power.
That sparked an online backlash, many accusing him of inciting violence.
But his campaign team said he was actually talking about getting gun rights supporters to the ballot box to enact change politically.
The remarks that sparked the firestorm were made at a rally in Wilmington on Tuesday afternoon.
The Republican presidential nominee said of his Democratic opponent: ‘Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks.’
‘But the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.’
The Second Amendment enshrines the right to bear arms in the US Constitution. A man sitting behind Mr Trump as he made the remarks assumed a look of disbelief as he heard them.