The convention of the National Rifle Association celebrates its second day arguing that the response to massacres in schools “is not to restrict the rights” of those who want to “defend themselves”
The annual convention of the National Rifle Association (NRA, for its acronym in English), the main organization in favor of weapons in the United States, faced its second day this Saturday in the midst of a debate that divides American society, since Texas still has a very fresh wound. The exhibit opened three days later and less than 500 kilometers from the Uvalde massacre, in which an 18-year-old shot at Robb Elementary School from point-blank range, killing nineteen children between the ages of 9 and 11, as well as two teachers.
As hundreds of people gathered outside the George R. Brown Convention Center on Friday to protest the gun lobby – the largest gathering seen since 1999, when the organization held its convention in Denver a month after the Columbine massacre-, calling its defenders “murderers”, inside the building the position was different. Those attending the contest lamented the massacre of Uvalde, even observed a minute of silence for the victims, but defended the weapons.
“Twenty-one beautiful lives were mercilessly and indiscriminately extinguished by a criminal monster,” said RNA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre, who, however, noted that “restricting the fundamental human rights of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves is not the answer. It never has been », he settled.
“Hunt or Kill”
Jam Hatchete, a Vietnam veteran, told the BBC that “there are weapons that are for hunting and weapons that are for killing. There is no reason for an 18-year-old to have an AR rifle, whose objective is that, to kill.
For all these reasons, on the day of the inauguration, the Republican leader Donald Trump promised to arm the teachers and shield the schools if he returns to present himself to the White House. “The existence of evil in our world is no reason to disarm law-abiding citizens,” he stressed.
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