After the mass shooting in the Parkland, FL high school, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has become unwelcome for people in places that gladly threw open their doors. One advantage the organization’s annual convention brought to a city was a flood of money. Now, one city’s top politician has decided that morals are more important than dollars.
The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 14 students and three staff members has served as a poignant reminder that guns do kill. The NRA, a powerful interest group, has fought to control state and national gun laws. In addition, it has spent years building a culture of fear and the image of a tough guy holding a weapon.
This week, parents, friends, and family have been burying those killed at the hand of an AR-15. The teen who shot the students legally purchased the weapon had been expelled from school.
The AR-15 is an assault rifle that is not meant for hunting. The damage it does to an animal would render the meat useless for preparation.
Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway has told the NRA to find another home for its yearly convention. The political leader does not want to associate his city with the bad publicity that the organization has garnered in recent days. According to the local ABC Affiliate, he said:
‘It is a tough call when you ask the NRA to reconsider coming to Dallas. But it is putting all citizens first and getting them to come to the table and elected officials to come to the table, and to address this madness now.’
Caraway said that it would not be appropriate for Dallas to have the NRA convention given the Florida high school shooting. He noted that there have been two high-profile shootings in the city. The first occurred when a gunman shot and killed President John Kennedy in 1963. The second occurred last year when a gunman ambushed five Dallas police officers.
The NRA’s annual convention is scheduled at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center from May 4 through May 6. It will not have firearm sales, but there will be firearm exhibits. At those booths, the exhibitors could legally sell ammunition.
Caraway told The Dallas Morning News:
‘I would hope they would be sensitively moral themselves at some point. I would hope that the NRA would be watching, as I’m sure they are, around the country what has just taken place. They have children. They have families. At some point, they need to understand, and I think they do, that there will be opposition when they come here.’
It is not clear what Dallas can legally do, and the NRA will not likely leave of its own accord. The city banned the Exxxotica event, which was based upon its sexually oriented business ordinance, and Dallas is still in a legal battle over that matter.
Travis County commissioners looked into banning gun shows at the county expo center in 2013. However, they voted down the measure.
Featured Image via Getty Images/Spencer Platt
