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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNRA Cancels Annual Meeting Over Covid Concerns
After mounting pressure from several major gun manufacturers, the National Rifle Association announced Tuesday that it was cancelling its much-anticipated annual meeting in Texas next weekend. In a statement on Tuesday, the NRA cited the health and well-being of our members, staff, sponsors, and supporters as its top priority, noting that patrons will return home to family, friends and co-workers from all over the country, so any impacts from the virus could have broader implications.
The statement made no mention of the fact that some of the biggest manufacturers had already taken steps to pull out of the conference. That list includes Benelli USA, Beretta USA, Sig Sauer, Sturm, Ruger & Company and others, according to people with knowledge of internal communications at these companies.
The convention was set to draw a crowd of 35,000 or more, and the prospect of cramming that many people into Houstons George R. Brown Convention Center posed a serious risk of accelerating transmission of the coronavirus. That danger was only heightened since the appearance of the more infectious Delta variant.
The NRAs decision follows reporting last week, which noted that firearm manufacturers were quietly pulling out of the convention but not saying so publicly to avoid drawing the ire of an increasingly powerful voice in the world of gun owners: right-wing Trump fans who reject CDC warnings about the coronavirus, distrust vaccines, and view the act of wearing a medical mask as an infringement on personal freedoms.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/national-rifle-association-cancels-annual-meeting-over-covid?ref=home
dchill
(38,484 posts)Darwins_Retriever
(853 posts)They ban guns.
Straw Man
(6,624 posts)There have been years when the venue insisted on it, and the Secret Service made the same request when Trump and Pence addressed the group. But the organization itself has never done such a ban. A simple Google search would have told you that.
https://www.google.com/search?q=nra+convention+bans+guns&oq=nra+convention+bans+guns
LiberalFighter
(50,912 posts)Provided it lasts 2 weeks. In close confinement.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)The State of Texas should sue the daylights out of the NRA for canceling their meeting. That will cost Texas millions of dollars, and Texas has a real good track record of late of valuing money over practically everything else, including its own citizens' lives.
Johnny2X2X
(19,061 posts)Seems to be their answer for most everything else.
tanyev
(42,553 posts)lindysalsagal
(20,680 posts)dalton99a
(81,478 posts)MyOwnPeace
(16,926 posts)hold it in Sturgis - could have made BOTH events much more interesting!
VarryOn
(2,343 posts)the NASCAR races in Daytona this weekend. We've had this trip planned for 6 months. It's my one redneck/white trash indulgence!
LetMyPeopleVote
(145,176 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(145,176 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)God will protect them. Where is their faith?