The NRA or the National Rifle Association is literally in the midst of controversy especially with what just happened last weekend at their annual convention. This year it was held in Dallas, Texas in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center wherein more than 80,000 people were expected to attend.
They have had an annual meeting every year but it’s most controversial one was this year. It is not just the fact that they are being supported by the president himself despite all the mass shooting incidents that have happened over the last few months, but also the hypocritical policy of not allowing people to carry their guns and even knives during the visit of the President and the Vice President at the said convention, here are a couple of more things you need to know about what happened in the 2018 NRA Convention.
Dallas NRA Convention Gun Ban
From the 3rd till 6th of May, more than 800 exhibitors gathered for the annual National Rifle Association convention. On the 4th of May, the Secret Service said that gun ban was issued for the safety of US President Donald Trump as well as Vice President Mike Pence.
A lot of people who are not very keen on the NRA, especially the family and friends of the Parkland shooting victims, sees it as a somewhat act of hypocrisy on the part of the government. The NRA said that the Secret Service had to make sure that no one will actually carry any sort of weapon during the speeches.
It is not only the gun ban during the president’s speech caught attention, but the speech itself. It is known that the president has been supporting the NRA despite all the controversy. It was last year when Trump paid the NRA a visit and was considered to be some sort of a hero because of the help he provided since he was pushing through the Second Amendment campaign.
It’s the final day of the 147th @AnnualMeetings . If you weren’t able to check out that seminar, meet the celebrity you’ve been wanting to, or get enough turns in at the Wall of Guns, now is the time! #2A #NRAAM https://t.co/m6Hltu7zy8
— NRA (@NRA) May 6, 2018
During the NRA convention in Atlanta, he also delivered a speech wherein he made sure that he will always have their back. Despite what Trump and Pence said on Friday, Democrats are still looking into the light at the end of the tunnel by believing that the people of America know what is best for them and their families. Just recently another democrat representative offered to have a Federal Assault Weapon Ban just like what the country did in 1994 under President Bill Clinton. Then again, Trump has mentioned that as long as he is the president of the United States, those who support the NRA has got nothing to worry about, since he will make sure that the Second Amendment will not be touched.
People Of The NRA And Their New President
The United States has witnessed a couple of mass shootings the past couple of months. The Las Vegas shooting last year where 58 people died, which was followed by the Baptist church shooting that led to the death of 26 people and the most recent one in February wherein 17 people died at a high school in Parkland, Florida.
Some of the people who are members of the NRA and those who support the NRA admit that they are not supporting any mass shootings. They know exactly what happened and felt sad for the families who have lost their loved ones but it does not have to infringe their right to own guns and revise the Second Amendment. Some of them insisted that it was the people who should be blamed the not the law because the law shouldn’t have existed if it was meant to harm in any way. No nation would have any policy wherein it would bring harm to its kind.
Meanwhile, amidst the controversy, the National Rifle Association will have a new president in the person of former marine officer, Oliver North. This literally added to the controversy since North was also an ex-convict who was imprisoned for three counts of felony while he was working as a national security aide in the Reagan-Bush Administration back in 1989. People have mixed feelings about the new president of the NRA, but most of them are hoping that he wouldn’t make things worse especially with the controversy the association is facing as if the moment.