Texas allows licensed open carry of handguns and open carry of long rifles.
— With files from The Associated Press
The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced that guns would not be allowed into its annual convention during U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence‘s speeches.
The move is part of a directive from the Secret Service, which will oversee security during the leadership forum on Friday where the two are slated to speak.
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“The U.S. Secret Service will be responsible for event security at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum,” the NRA’s website explained. “As a result, firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind will be prohibited in the forum prior to and during his attendance.”
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The ban also includes toy guns, laser pointers, drones, pepper spray, and several other items that may cause “potential safety hazards.”
Attendees will be allowed to carry firearms for the rest of the Dallas convention.
But the irony of a gun ban during a convention about firearms was not lost.
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Several survivors of February’s Florida high school shooting spoke out to slam the organization.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student, Cameron Kasky, who has been active in pushing for gun reform, remarked that the NRA has turned into a “parody of itself.”
Another student from the high school, Matt Deitsch, tweeted that the NRA doesn’t care about protecting children.
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“Wait wait wait wait wait wait you’re telling me to make the VP safe there aren’t any weapons around but when it comes to children they want guns everywhere?” he wrote.
“Can someone explain this to me? Because it sounds like the NRA wants to protect people who help them sell guns, not kids.”
The move was also criticized by Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jamie was a student killed in the Feb. 14 shooting.
“The NRA should be true to its values and ask the President and VP not to come if they cannot protect them with all of those armed citizens,” Guttenberg tweeted. “I think all citizens should be protected from the murderous impact of guns.”
The NRA has meanwhile distanced itself from the Secret Service’s directive, saying it had no choice in the matter.
Firearms were also banned during Trump’s NRA speech in Atlanta last year.
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NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker told The Associated Press that the group’s policy is that firearms are permitted in accordance with local law at the conference.
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