First on the Ticker: Palin to headline annual NRA meeting

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/07/art.palincu0207.gi.jpg caption="Palin will address the gun rights group on May 14."]Washington (CNN) - Sarah Palin will headline the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina in May, the gun rights group told CNN on Thursday.

Her May 14 appearance at the Charlotte Convention Center will offer Palin, a hunter and fierce advocate of gun rights, an opportunity to appeal to one of the conservative movement's most prominent interest groups.

"Governor Palin is one of the most requested speakers in America today," Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive director, told CNN in a statement. "She's an outdoorsman, hunter and a steadfast supporter of our Second Amendment freedom. We are pleased to have a fellow NRA member speak at our 139th annual meeting in Charlotte this May."

If the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee is indeed considering a White House bid in 2012, then the visit will also come with a not insignificant perk: the Charlotte media market spills over into heavily-Republican parts of South Carolina, a crucial early primary state.