More Than A Thousand Gather To Protest Gun Violence Outside Houston NRA Conference After Uvalde Tragedy

Several Texas politicians, including Beto O'Rourke, gathered across the street from the National Rifle Association's annual conference in Houston.

Several activist groups attended the event, including Black Lives Matter Houston, Indivisible Houston, Moms Demand Action, Texas American Federation of Teachers and March for Our Lives.

The time for us to stop the next mass shooting is right now.

The Texas Democrat called on the National Rifle Association to cancel its memberships because of the gun control legislation in Congress.

The videos show a group of children standing on a stage across the street from the site of the NRA conference with photos and names of the Uvalde shooting victims hanging around their necks, with one holding a sign asking "Am I next?"

Others carried small caskets and held signs as they chanted, "Protect our kids, not guns!"

Several politicians and performers canceled their appearances in the aftermath of the shooting, but Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will still appear at the conference.

You are not our enemies if you are attending the NRA convention. We are not yours. In his speech, O'Rourke said that they would open their hands and welcome you to join them to make sure that this doesn't happen in this country.

Contra

The George R. Brown Convention Center is managed by Houston First, a government corporation. The conference is the first annual meeting of the NRA since the Pandemic.

Key Background

In the wake of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas that left 19 students and two teachers dead, Democrats are pushing for gun control measures. It is the worst school attack since Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 where 20 students and six staff members were killed. The manufacturer of the rifle used in the shooting, Daniel Defense, backed out of the convention in the aftermath of the shooting, telling Forbes it was too soon to attend after one of its products was found to be criminal. Schumer said he will restart efforts to pass stricter gun control laws, but noted Republicans are unlikely to back such efforts. Two weeks after a shooter killed ten black people in a grocery store in Buffalo, there are protests in Houston.

Here is who is going and what to know about the canceled NRA convention appearances.

Wrong decision, not to quickly breach Uvalde classroom where shooter was barricaded.