Gun debate hits Dallas as city’s ‘wounds are open’
Enthusiasts, protesters head for NRA convention
Thousands of gun enthusiasts. Gun control rallies featuring survivors of mass shootings. Fifteen acres of exhibit space showing off the latest in weapons and ammo. A presidential speech supporting gun rights.
Dallas will be at the center of the national gun control debate this weekend when the National Rifle Association, a powerful lobby on behalf of firearms makers, holds its annual meeting.
Starting Friday, about 80,000 gun owners and enthusiasts are expected to come to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center to participate in the 147th annual NRA Meetings & Exhibits and NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, which will feature speeches by President Trump, Vice President Pence, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn.
The meetings are likely to draw a raft of rallies calling for stricter gun control. “Die-in” protesters plan to carry “tombstone-themed protest signs” and pictures of gun violence victims to the convention center to denounce gun deaths in the USA.
This year’s gathering comes in the wake of the Las Vegas concert shooting last year, the deadliest in U.S. history; the deadly shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas; and the Parkland, Fla., school shooting that sparked nationwide protests.
The event falls days after the funeral of a Dallas police officer who was fatally shot by a shoplifting suspect and less than two years after the shooting death of four Dallas police officers and one Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer at a Black Lives Matter rally.
“Our wounds are open,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said. “We’re a little sore right now. Having a big debate about guns when we have lost so many officers concerns us.”
He said, “They weren’t knifed or wrestled to the ground and beat up. They were shot with guns. That creates a pall over the city.”
Texas is largely a red state where guns are extremely popular: There are more than 300,000 NRA members in the state, according to the Texas State Rifle Association. But Dallas, like other large Texas metropolitan areas, is strongly blue and open to debates on stricter gun control. Officials said they hope a constructive dialogue emerges from the meetings and protests.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s top administrator, was scheduled to meet with student leaders Thursday to hear their concerns on gun violence. He said he hopes activists on both sides of the debate this weekend find ways to talk to one another and come up with solutions.
“It’s an opportunity for us maybe to put down our philosophical arguments and really listen to what’s happening,” Jenkins said. “We may not agree what the fix is, but we could agree a fix is needed.”
Spokesman Jason Brown said the NRA is prepared for demonstrations. “NRA’s security team has worked closely with local law enforcement to ensure the safety and security of all our members, exhibitors, visitors and staff throughout the event and do not expect any issues to occur,” he said.