NRA Hosts Huge Texas Gun Show Days After School Massacre

HOUSTON (AP) – The National Rifle Association kicks off its annual convention in Houston on Friday, and leaders of the powerful gun rights lobby group are preparing to “reflect on” and shift any blame for the deadly shooting to earlier this week of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Former President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans are scheduled to speak at the three-day gun marketing and defense event, which is expected to draw protesters fed up with gun violence.

Some scheduled speakers and performers have pulled out, including two Texas lawmakers and “American Pie” singer Don McLean, who said “it would be disrespectful” to go ahead with his act after the latest mass shooting in the country.

While President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress have renewed calls for tougher gun laws, NRA board member Phil Journey said the focus should be on better mental health care and treating to prevent armed violence. He said that he would not support banning or limiting access to firearms.

The NRA said in an online statement that people who attend the gun show will “reflect on” the Uvalde school shooting, “pray for the victims, recognize our patriotic members, and pledge to redouble our commitment to make it safer.” our schools are safe.”

People planning to attend picked up registration credentials Thursday and shopped for NRA memorabilia, such as “Suns Out Guns Out” T-shirts. Police had already put up metal barriers across the street from the convention center, in a park where protesters are expected to gather on Friday.

Gary Francis traveled with his wife and friends from Racine, Wisconsin to attend the NRA meeting. He said he was opposed to any gun control regulation in response to the Uvalde shooting.

“What happened there is obviously tragic,” he said. “But the NRA had nothing to do with it. The people who come here have nothing to do with it.”

Texas has experienced a series of mass shootings in recent years. During that time, the Republican-led Legislature and the governor have relaxed gun laws.

There is precedent for the NRA meeting in the midst of local mourning and controversy. The organization went ahead with a shortened version of its 1999 meeting in Denver about a week after the deadly shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado. Actor Charlton Heston, the NRA president at the time, told attendees that “horrible acts” should not become opportunities to limit constitutional rights and denounced critics for portraying NRA members as “villains.” “.

Rocky Marshall, a former NRA board member, said that while the tragedy in Uvalde “does make the meeting bad,” that’s no reason to cancel it. Marshall said gun rights advocates and opponents may be able to reduce gun violence by focusing on factors like mental illness or school safety.

“Throwing rocks at the NRA, that doesn’t solve the next mass shooting,” he said. “Throwing rocks at people who hate guns, that doesn’t solve the next mass shooting.”

But country music singer Larry Gatlin, who pulled out of a planned appearance at the event, said he hopes “the NRA will reconsider some of its outdated and ill-considered positions.”

“While I agree with most of the NRA’s positions, I have come to believe that while background checks would not stop every maniac with a gun, it is at least a step in the right direction,” he said. Gatlin.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that NRA leaders “are contributing to the problem of gun violence and not trying to solve it.” She accused them of representing the interests of weapons manufacturers, “who market weapons of war to young adults.”

Two Republican lawmakers from Texas who were scheduled to speak Friday, US Sen. John Cornyn and US Rep. Dan Crenshaw, will no longer attend due to what their staff said were changes to their schedules.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, both Republicans, were listed as speakers, and Trump said Wednesday that he still intends to attend. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, is also sticking with her plans to speak Friday at the NRA event.

Although personal firearms are allowed at the convention, the NRA said no weapons would be allowed during the session with Trump due to Secret Service security protocols.

Several groups have said they planned to stage protests outside the convention center.

“This is not the time or the place to have this convention,” said César Espinosa, executive director of FIEL, a Houston-based civil rights group that plans to participate in the protests. “Not only do we need to have thoughts and prayers from lawmakers, but we need action to address this public health crisis that is impacting our communities.”

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, said the city is obligated to host the NRA event, which has been under contract for more than two years. But he urged politicians to skip it.

“You can’t pray and send condolences one day and then go and defend your arms the next. That’s wrong,” Turner said.

Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control group Moms Demand Action, said she wasn’t surprised the NRA didn’t cancel their meeting.

“The real question now is which elected officials will choose to side with the violence and go kiss the ring in Houston this weekend instead of side with communities crying out for public safety,” Watts said.

David A. Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.