Coyote jokes were perhaps inevitable at a gun shop in Dallas on Thursday where Gov. Rick Perry accepted endorsements from two pro-gun groups.

"Everyone knows Rick Perry is pro-gun," said Chris Cox, chairman of the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund. "The coyote population certainly knows you're pro-gun."

Later on, Perry quipped: "I'm fond of the Second Amendment so I can take care of my family pets."

Perry told a reporter this year that while jogging in February he shot a coyote that he said was threatening him and his daughter's Labrador retriever. The story made national news.

At McClelland's Gun Shop, leaders from the NRA and the Texas State Rifle Association said Thursday that deciding whom to endorse for governor was easy. Perry has an A+ NRA rating. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill White has a B.

"I happen to believe that our state's enlightened approach to gun rights is not only an essential part of our state's safety, it is an ongoing display of our commitment to freedom," Perry said.

Cox criticized White's involvement in Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group started by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. White has said he resigned from the group after finding its positions too restrictive, but Cox said he had urged White to leave the group two years earlier.

White's campaign noted that a B rating from the NRA designates "a generally pro-gun candidate."

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