Donald Trump

NRA Bans Guns From Texas Convention When Trump, Pence Speak

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will speak at the event in Dallas on Friday

What to Know

  • Trump and Pence will be at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday
  • Students at the Florida high school where 17 people were killed criticized the NRA for what they see as hypocrisy
  • Trump has been a strong supporter of the NRA and enjoyed their backing in his 2016 campaign

Attendees at the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Dallas, Texas, can carry their firearms — except during the forum where President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence speak Friday.

A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend Friday. Pence had already been slated to speak at Friday's leadership forum.

The NRA has said on its website that due to Pence's attendance, the U.S. Secret Service is responsible for security then. It's standard for the Secret Service to bar firearms from being carried into places visited by the people they protect, regardless of state laws.

Some students at the Parkland, Florida, high school where 17 people were killed in February criticized the NRA on social media for what they see as hypocrisy.

"The NRA has evolved into such a hilarious parody of itself," Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Cameron Kasky, who co-founded the student-led gun control advocacy group Never Again, tweeted. 

Matt Deitsch, another Parkland student who helped organize the March for Our Lives rally, replied to Kasky’s tweet saying that the NRA will keep Pence safe without any weapons "but when it comes to children they want guns everywhere."

Guns were also banned during Trump's appearance at the NRA's annual meeting in Atlanta last year. Trump has been a strong supporter of the NRA and enjoyed their backing in his 2016 campaign.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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