Image caption Trump's latest remarks on the possibility of the 'Second Amendment people' doing away with his opponent drew immediate outcry

The mainstream US press has largely reacted to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's gun rights remarks with dismay and some anger.

Most forthright is New York's Daily News, which declares "Trump must go". "Hinting at assassination is too much, even for him," it explains.

The Wall Street Journal reports a "new flap for Trump over gun comments", saying Mr Trump has "confounded the hopes of Republicans who want him to run a more measured presidential campaign"

But the National Rifle of Association (NRA) came to his defence in a tweet, suggesting Mr Trump was "right".

Image copyright Twitter\NRA

The New York Times says "Trump suggests gun owners act against Clinton" and reports "alarm" at his remarks.

The paper dedicates its editorial to the row, referring to Mr Trump driving the campaign "further into the muck".

Image copyright New York Times

'Disgusting human being'

Veteran commentator Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times that he is appalled by Mr Trump's "wink wink" to gun owners, stating baldly that this is "how Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin got assassinated".

"He is a disgusting human being," he concludes.

The conservative New York Post tabloid prefers to lead on the continuing controversy over Mrs Clinton's email accounts, but reports on its inside pages that Mr Trump has "created a new firestorm" with his remarks.

Image copyright New York Post

The Washington Post describes a tactic of "outrage, headlines and then denial" in Mr Trump's campaign speeches, which it says may not serve to attract undecided voters to his cause and also allows Mrs Clinton to avoid answering awkward questions.

It gives space to Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman and MSNBC TV host, who calls for his party to ditch Mr Trump.

"A bloody line has been crossed that cannot be ignored. At long last, Donald Trump has left the Republican Party few options but to act decisively and get this political train wreck off the tracks before something terrible happens," he writes.

Image copyright The Washington Post

USA Today says Mr Trump regards the "Second Amendment people" as his "secret weapon" in the campaign, but the Los Angeles Times concludes he is "stuck in a destructive loop of his own making, his words increasingly at odds with his needs" as the campaign enters the final stage.

Leon Neyfakh of the Slate online magazine, in addition, thinks Mr Trump is also "showing his disdain" for gun owners by suggesting they might be ready to kill Mrs Clinton.

However, conservative Breitbart website's Second Amendment columnist AWR Hawkins accuses the media of launching a "full frontal" attack on Trump and gun owners.

"The media allegations were so extreme, they not only insulted Trump but gun-owners as well", he writes.

He goes on to accuse the mainstream media of reporting on Mr Trump's comments only once Mrs Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook had alleged he was suggesting "violence".

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.