The National Rifle Association should move its annual convention from Dallas to somewhere else after last week’s massacre at a Florida high school that left 17 students dead, a Dallas city official says.
“It’s not appropriate for the group to meet in Dallas in May because there’s so much gun violence in the United States, Dallas City Council Member Dwaine Caraway said Assault rifles like the one used in the Florida school shooting should be outlawed, he said Monday at a news conference, and “the NRA needs to step up to the plate and they need to show leadership.”
Caraway, who is serving as mayor pro tem, meaning he fills in when the mayor is absent, said he’s expressing a personal belief about the NRA and has not initiated any action in the city government to stop the convention. At a Monday news conference, Caraway said he had not spoken directly to any NRA officials.
“I am saying to the NRA, reconsider yourselves coming to Dallas,” Caraway said. “There will be marches and demonstrations should they come to Dallas and we, Dallas, will be the ones that have to bear the cost and the responsibility and to protect the citizens.”
Caraway noted that gun violence has visited Dallas before, with the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the 2016 slaying of five city police officers. Caraway said he owns five firearms himself but thinks assault rifles should only be available for the military and law enforcement.
The NRA convention is scheduled to take place May 3-6 in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. This is the group’s 147th annual meeting, according to the NRA website, which invites “over 80,000 patriots and 800+ exhibitors” to attend.
