The NRA Is Banning Guns for Trump’s Appearance at Its Upcoming Convention

On Friday, May 27—which will be three days after the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that killed 19 children and two adults—the National Rifle Association will meet in Houston, Texas, for their annual meeting. Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at their “leadership forum,” where guns will not be allowed.

You can have your gun at other events during the three-day convention; but if you attend the forum with Trump, NRA’s Executive Vice President, NRA-ILA’s Executive Director, and “our nation’s top Second Amendment supporters,” per NRA’s event announcement, then you will be prohibited from exercising your God-given, Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The irony is almost too disgusting and predictable to even bother pointing out. Yet, here we are again: another mass shooting, a million more worthless thoughts and prayers, and a bunch of hypocritical politicians who don’t want firearms allowed inside an event that’s being held by the very organization that lobbies said politicians to pass laws that make it easy for anyone to buy a gun and bring it wherever the hell they want. Like a shopping center. Or an elementary school.

In a post on the convention’s website, the organization states that since “President Donald J. Trump will be speaking at the forum,” the Secret Service insists that attendees be subject to search and guns be banned.

Per the U.S. SECRET SERVICE, firearms, firearm accessories, knives, and other items WILL NOT BE PERMITTED in the General Assembly Hall.

The NRA also makes clear that there will be “no storage available for firearms.” For the record, the NRA also banned guns when Trump and Mike Pence were scheduled to speak at their 2018 convention, again citing the Secret Service’s wishes. Seems to me like a true, gun-toting American wouldn’t let the Secret Service bully their precious gun rights—guns don’t kill people, people kill people—but what do I know?

In addition to Trump, confirmed speakers include Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), who, in June 2021, signed into law a bill that now allows Texans to carry a handgun without training or a background check or a license. Next on the roster is South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R), who, in March, signed into law a bill that gets rid of fees for concealed gun permits. And of course, Ted Cruz is slated to be there—the Texas senator who, in the aftermath of Tuesday’s massacre, tweeted “fervent” prayers for the bereaved and told reporters that, obviously, Democrats will try to politicize this by limiting guns.

When the aforementioned policies are the very thing that keeps allowing these atrocities to take place, what other fucking option do Democrats, or really anyone, have other than to look to the politicians who are refusing to do anything about it? If the NRA really believe guns were not the problem, they would allow anyone to carry them at their own fucking events.