The National Rifle Association (NRA) is all set to hold its 2022 annual meeting on Friday. The meeting will be held in Houston.
The meeting is going to bring together several top brasses and notable personalities, including former President Donald Trump, for the first time in the last three years.
The NRA's annual meetings, scheduled in 2020 and 2021, were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this time the organization has decided to go ahead with its plans.
The meeting is being held at a time when both, the gun rights as well as the organization itself, have come under intense scrutiny, especially after the shooting incident that happened at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 dead.
Here are some details about the 2022 annual meeting.
Schedule of the meeting:
According to the event’s website, the NRA's 2022 Annual Meeting and Exhibits will take place from May 27th to May 29th. The leadership forum, which is considered one of the most politically significant and popular events in the country, will be held Friday afternoon.
Place of the meeting:
The meeting will be held in the George R. Brown Convention Center of Houston. It is the same location where the meeting was scheduled for last September.
Attendees of the meeting:
This annual meeting is for only NRA members. According to the organization's website, the organization currently has more than five million members.
Speakers of the meeting:
According to the event’s website, on Friday there will be eight speakers, including Wayne LaPierre, the NRA head, and Jason Ouimet, who is the executive director of the group's lobbying arm.
Trump will also be a speaker at the event. Throughout his presidency, the former President shared a close relationship with the gun lobby as well as with its activists. He also spoke at the 2019 event, and it was his fifth continuous speech at the annual meeting.
Apart from Trump, Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw are also scheduled to speak on Friday. Two other Republicans North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will also share their thoughts.
Security Arrangements:
The NRA has said that since Trump is going to be at the event, the US Secret Service will handle the General Assembly Hall and will use magnetometers before the entry point.
Attendees are strictly prohibited from bringing any kinds of arms, like knives, firearms, firearm accessories, etc. Other items like backpacks and selfie sticks are also not allowed at the meeting.
Incidents happened after the 2019 meeting:
After the 2019 meeting, many shooting incidents happened in the U.S. The recent one was in Texas which left 21 dead including 19 children.
The gun rights and the role of the NRA in stopping such unfortunate incidents will also be watched by the supporters of gun control.
The NRA is also going through the fight to remain in existence after Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, sued to dissolve the organization for allegedly misusing its charitable funds.
In March, a justice of the New York State Supreme Court blocked this attempt by James to dissolve the organization but she was allowed to keep her suit against it moving forward.
The observers are also waiting for a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court in the biggest Second Amendment case. The justices are considering whether or not to strike down a New York gun law that was enacted more than a century ago. The law puts restrictions on carrying a concealed gun outside the home.
The 2019 meeting:
At 2019's annual meeting, it was announced by Trump that he would not endorse a United Nations arms trading treaty. After this, he signed a message to the Senate before an audience of NRA leaders.
The meeting was also worth notable as Oliver North, the then-NRA President, told the members that he would not be renominated president of the group after a dispute with LaPierre. Oliver North already faced controversy due to his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.
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