UNITED STATES

National Rifle Association holds annual meeting in defensive mode

May 3, 2018

The National Rifle Association (NRA) will be on the defensive at its 147th Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Dallas, Texas, because of a recent spate of shooting rampages, but can look forward to a fruitful year.

It will be rallying its millions of members – estimates range from 5 million to 14 million – to hold the ground against new efforts to restrict gun rights following a spate of mass shootings in late 2017 and early 2018. The most horrific were the mass shooting in October in Las Vegas, which killed 59 music festival patrons, and a school shooting in Florida in February that killed 17 students and staff.

Massive gun-control rallies are expected outside the venue because of the Florida shootings.

The rampages have increased calls from many legislators and members of the public for tighter gun regulations, an anathema to the NRA.

Typically, fear of new regulations sets off a members’ buying spree at the nation’s weapons retailers. As the NRA, which is also a trade group, profits from some unpublished part of gun sales, the rampages help to keep the organization’s coffers full enough for its gun rights lobby.

Salon reports that the NRA spent more than US $50 million on the 2016 election, some 96 per cent of its outside spending budget. The investment paid off, according to the magazine, with the election of pro-gun candidates, who include President Donald Trump and enough members of congress that gun control legislation is unlikely to go anywhere.

#22335 Updated: FEB 2018 TO INCLUDE FLORIDA SHOOTING