Apparently oblivious to the shock caused in the United States by the massacre in a Texas elementary school, the National Rifle Association (NRA, for its acronym in English) will hold its annual meeting this weekend in Texas with the presence of Donald Trump as a guest star.
According to the official NRA website, the meeting, which will take place in Houston, a Texas city located less than 500 km from where the massacre took placewill take place over three days in a venue with an exhibition area of more than five hectares, where attendees will be able to learn about “the latest weapons and equipment manufactured by leading companies in the industry.”
“Make plans now to join other Second Amendment patriots to a weekend full of freedom for the whole familyas we celebrate freedom, guns and the Second Amendment,” read a notice on the group’s page promoting the event.
A man with a gun at a National Rifle Association exhibit. Photo: Reuters
The Second Amendment to the US Constitution is that he consecrates it right of the population to bear arms.
In addition to Trump, also The two most important members of the Republican Party in Texas will attendthe governor and one of the state senators, Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz, respectively.
Trump is considered something of an NRA idol. In a tweet promoting the event, the agency published a video where the former US president is seen saying that he “loved the NRA and the Second Amendment.”
“It is truly an honor to have President Trump address NRA members for the sixth time at our Houston Leadership Forum,” NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre said in a statement announcing the event.
LaPierre claimed that Trump had helped “secure the freedom of generations of Americans” by appointing judges who “respect the Constitution”, and thanked him for having defended “the right to keep and bear arms“.
While Trump has always been close to the NRA, after the Parkland High School shooting in 2018 expressed lukewarm support for background checks and greater police power to seize weapons from people with mental problems.
He faced significant resistance, both from the NRA and his own party, and he quickly abandoned those proposals. His government also banned the use of bump stocksa device that facilitates faster firing of a semi-automatic rifle.
The crack of the guns
The NRA meeting will take place not only against the background of grief over a new school massacre, but also against new calls for the Joe Biden administration to put in place gun control regulations and “stand up to the gun lobby.” , considered one of the most powerful in all of Washington.
The political rift around the gun control issue was exposed again just hours after Salvador Ramos murdered 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary Schoollocated in the town of Uvalde.
Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, the state where the devastating Sandy Hook school shooting took place, made an impassioned call on his colleagues to take concrete steps to prevent further violence.
“This is not inevitable, these kids weren’t unlucky. This only happens in this country and nowhere else. Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking they might get shot that day,” Murphy said, pleading “find a way to pass laws that make this less likely.”
Senator Ted Cruz, for his part, tweeted that he and his wife were praying for the children and families “in the horrible shooting in Uvalde,” but without ever mentioning the issue of access to guns, an issue that specialists say it is central to understanding the prevalence of tragedies of this type.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez crossed paths with Senator Cruz on Twitter, reminding him of his ties to the NRA. “Will he not be a speaker at the NRA meeting in three days, which will also take place in Houston?” Cortes wrote. “He can do more than pray. Faith without works is dead“, complete.
The episode is similar to what happened in 1999, when the NRA decided to hold a meeting in Denver just days after the massacre at Columbine High Schoolwhich was also in Colorado, which led to thousands of people protesting at the gates of where the event took place.