The National Rifle Association, a guns rights lobbying group is holding its 2022 annual convention for the first time in three years, but the recent mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which left 21 dead, has brought the annual event under scrutiny.
In a statement posted to Twitter, the organization said they are committed “to making our schools secure.”
Driving the news: The NRA offered condolences while referring to the shooter as “a lone deranged criminal,” and said it will “reflect on these events” at the gathering in Houston, Texas.
The decision to meet in Houston following the shooting has gotten some pushback.
What they’re saying: Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke tweeted: “Governor Abbott, if you have any decency, you will immediately withdraw from this weekend’s NRA convention and urge them to hold it anywhere but Texas.”
- “The convention has been on the books for more than two years,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said during Wednesday’s City Council meeting, per KHOU 11, a Houston television station.
- “It’s a contractual arrangement. We simply cannot cancel a conference or convention because we do not agree with the subject matter.”
Details: The conference will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center from May 27 to May 29.
- Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak, as Ashley Nash reported for the Deseret News.
- Gov. Greg Abbott, State Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, and U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw are also expected to speak.
- According to KXAN, topics of discussion will include: “Immediate Responder: When Seconds Count,” “Sniping Today in the Ukraine” and “Refuse to be a Victim: Crime Prevention Series.”
Worth noting: Daniel Defense, the maker of the Uvalde shooter’s rifle, the DDM4 V7, will no longer be joining the convention, per The Daily Beast.
State of play: The Harris Country Democratic Party is joining activist organizations at a rally at Discovery Green on Friday to speak in support of gun reform while pressuring the NRA to take action.
Other organizations involved in the rally include Black Lives Matter: Houston, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Fiel Houston, March For Our Lives, Houston Federation of Teachers and Texas AFT, according to a Facebook post about the event.