Like supplicants to their benefactor, Republican / White Nationalist / Shooters Party leaders are heading to Indianapolis today to attend the National Rifle Rampage Association's annual convention. After the recent mass shootings in Nashville and Louisville, not to mention 145 incidents of mass shooting just since the beginning of the year, these cynical and perverse ghouls are there to implicitly appeal for NRA's blood money contributions and endorsements:
"Former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence – the former ticket-mates who have split over Trump’s actions leading up to and during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol – will both attend the gathering, potentially putting the two in the same room for the first time since leaving office.
Other GOP candidates and prospects, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, will also appear in person. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley will deliver video messages."
Unfortunately for the gun peddling group, it's hard to pick a date that isn't contemporary with a mass shooting. Their convention last year in Houston was held days after 19 children were slaughtered in Uvalde, TX. But the AR-15 pin-wearing Republican wingers aren't moved beyond "thoughts and prayers":
"The NRA, the nation’s foremost gun lobby, has seen its power wane in recent years amid leadership fights and legal battles. In 2021, the organization attempted to declare bankruptcy – an effort rejected by a federal judge. Still, the group is influential among conservatives, and its annual gatherings remain a magnet for presidential hopefuls. [snip]
The NRA’s annual conventions underscore how deeply entrenched gun rights advocates and Republican political figures have become despite the United States’ rash of mass shootings in recent years. In 1999, after the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado, NRA officials huddled on a conference call and discussed canceling their convention, according to tapes of those meetings published by NPR in 2021." (our emphasis)
The majority of Americans reject the NRA's policies of fighting universal background checks and red flag laws, of making assault rifles and extended magazines widely available, and of promoting open carry and armed teachers. But, as with their extreme position on reproductive rights for women, Republicans are on the wrong side of the public on gun safety, and should pay for it at the polls.
(photo: Pins for the pinheads)
