NRA convention gathers in Texas days after Uvalde shooting

National Rifle Association gathering faced with anti-gun protests and cancellations

Alanna De Leon writes the name of her friend, Annabelle Rodriguez, who died in the shooting. AFP

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Amerie Jo Garza into Sacred Heart Catholic Church. AP

Pallbearers carry the coffin of Amerie Jo Garza, who died in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. AFP

A memorial in Town Square, Uvalde, Texas, for victims of the Robb Elementary school shooting. Reuters

A woman places a rose on Layla Salazar’s memorial cross, who was one of the victims that died in the shooting. Reuters

Bags with brisket sandwiches and a snack that will be sold at a fundraiser for families of the victims. Reuters

Ashtyn Leigh, 18, hands a man a brisket meal. Reuters

A choir sings in front of the memorial. Reuters

People pray in front of memorial crosses. Reuters

Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the shooting. AFP

People visit a memorial for the victims. AFP

Flowers are left outside the school. AFP

Twenty-one empty chairs are seen outside of a daycare center as a memorial for the victims. AP Photo

Football teammates of Tess Mata, who died in the Texas school shooting, cry as they visit a makeshift memorial outside the Uvalde County Courthouse. AFP

A football teammate of shooting victim Tess Mata cries, supported by her mother. AFP

Texas police faced angry questions over why it took an hour to stop the gunman who murdered 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, as video emerged of desperate parents begging officers to storm the school. AFP

Activists join Senate Democrats outside the Capitol, in Washington, to demand action on gun control legislation after the killings at the Texas elementary school this week. AP

The George R Brown Convention Centre, site of the National Rifle Association annual convention. Days after the deadliest mass school shooting in Texas history, the gun lobbyist group is meeting in Houston, from Friday until Sunday. Reuters

Pastor Carlos Contreras preaches to his congregation as photos of some of the children killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary flash on the screen at Primera Iglesia Bautista, in Uvalde. Reuters

People march after a vigil held to stand with the Uvalde families and demand an end to gun violence in Newtown, Connecticut. AP

A woman holds up a banner at the end of the vigil in Newtown, Connecticut. AP

Newtown was the scene of the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when 20 pupils and six teachers were killed by a gunman. AP

Candles are lit for each victim as people pray at St Philip's Episcopal Church. EPA

A makeshift memorial in front of Robb Elementary School. AFP

Omahar Padillo with his son Omahar Jr, 12, during a community prayer, in Pharr, Texas, for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School. AP

Omahar Padillo Jr, 12, and his sister Samantha, 9, with their mother, Silvia Padillo, write messages in support of the victims at Robb Elementary School. AP

A vigil for the victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. AFP

A young mourner at the vigil in Uvalde, Texas. AFP

Families at the vigil. AFP

A woman holds a photo of Nevaeh Bravo, who was killed in the mass shooting, during a vigil for the victims of the massacre in Uvalde, Texas. AFP

Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco is comforted by Senator Ted Cruz during a vigil at the Uvalde County Fairplex Arena. AP

Diana Karau of Uvalde with a therapy dog named Tritan before a vigil to honour those killed at Robb Elementary. AP

Gun-control advocates Dana Cibulski, left, and Judi Giannini attend a vigil outside the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. AFP

Uziyah Garcia, 8, was among those killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. AP

Pastor Jaime Cabralez, the uncle of shooting victim 10-year-old Eliahana Cruz Torres, is surrounded in prayer at his church in Uvalde, Texas on Wednesday. Reuters

A woman embraces a child outside Willie de Leon Civic Centre, in Uvalde, where pupils were taken after the school shooting. Bloomberg

Gun-control advocates hold a vigil outside the National Rifle Association (NRA) headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. AFP

A woman and child leave the Civic Centre. Reuters

A diminished National Rifle Association (NRA) is starting its annual convention on Friday in Houston, confronted with falling revenue, fierce legal challenges and renewed criticism for defending access to weapons used in a spate of deadly shootings.

But it is still a potent enough player in American politics to draw to its convention former president Donald Trump and Texas senator Ted Cruz, both beneficiaries of the organisation’s generous political spending.

The four-day event, billed as the “largest gathering of NRA members and Second Amendment supporters in the country”, comes after at least 19 children and two teachers were killed on Tuesday in a primary school in Uvalde, Texas.

A girl holds a candle in Newtown, Connecticut, during a solidarity vigil for the Uvalde, Texas, community after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. Reuters

As millions of Americans grieving and angry following the worst school shooting in a decade, American Pie singer Don McLean led a wave of country music dropouts from the three-day event, while the Republican Governor Greg Abbott said he would no longer appear in person.

McLean said it would be “disrespectful and hurtful” to perform at the “Grand Ole Night of Freedom” concert scheduled during the convention on Saturday. At least five other country music stars, including Lee Greenwood and Larry Gatlin, have also reportedly pulled out.

Mr Abbott — who has brushed aside increasingly emotional calls for tougher gun laws in Texas, where attachment to the right to bear arms runs deep — is expected to make a pre-recorded video address instead. The governor's lieutenant Dan Patrick also cancelled plans to speak at the event.

Facing mounting scrutiny, gun manufacturer Daniel Defense — which made the assault rifle purchased by the Uvalde gunman Salvador Ramos shortly after his 18th birthday — also decided not to attend in light of the “horrifying tragedy”.

The cancellation of the past two annual meetings ate into revenue for the group, which along with mounting legal bills has forced cuts to staff and member programmes, leaving it with a smaller presence than in previous years.

Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at Michigan State University, said the NRA was less powerful politically, but its real strength is its army of members willing to engage in politics.

“The mobilised base of gun owners and the symbolic importance of guns in conservative politics, both of which the NRA helped to build, will continue and are stronger than the organisation itself,” he said.

After peaking in the year Mr Trump was elected, the NRA’s revenue fell 22 per cent over the ensuing four years to $285 million in 2020, the most recent year for which data is available.

Its legal fees hit a record that year of $40m. Based on preliminary numbers, revenue are estimated to have slipped further in 2021 and legal expenses to have hit another peak, tax filings and internal documents show.

Former president Donald Trump will be speaking at this week's NRA-ILA Leadership Forum in Houston, Texas. Reuters

Andrew Arulanandam, managing director of public affairs for the NRA, said in an email that: “The NRA is sound and secure — defeating courtroom adversaries and defending constitutional freedom.”

The legal battles erupted with reports in 2019 of lavish spending by its longtime boss, Wayne LaPierre, and other senior officials, which sparked internal turmoil leading to the removal of its president, Oliver North, and the departure of its top lobbyist, Chris Cox.

The NRA, Mr LaPierre and other executives were sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2020 over allegations that they had misused millions of dollars of the non-profit’s assets.

Facing the prospect that it could be dissolved, the NRA sought to avoid Ms James’s suit by using a bankruptcy filing as part of a bid to move its charter from New York to Texas.

After a federal judge declared that the NRA had filed its bankruptcy claim “not in good faith”, it found itself again facing the prospect of a New York trial.

Although a state judge dismissed the prospect of disbanding it as a result of a victory to Ms James, it could force the group to replace Mr LaPierre and the rest of its leadership.

Trump victory

Mr Trump’s victory in 2016 also dampened the NRA’s ability to raise money off the prospect of imminent threats to gun rights.

Its internal conflicts, competition from state groups, and its increasing partisanship diminished the NRA’s influence, said Richard Feldman, a former lobbyist for the organisation.

“The NRA in the last 20 years has really morphed into the National Republican Association,” Mr Feldman said.

The gun-rights group has remained active in politics, even though its spending has dropped in recent cycles from a peak of $54.4m in 2016 — a sum that included $31m spent to help elect Mr Trump, according to OpenSecrets.

Flags fly at half-staff at NRA headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, after the second-deadliest school shooting in a decade. Katarina Holtszapple / The National

As the group’s legal problems mounted, its spending dipped to $9.6m in the 2018 midterms, but rebounded to $29.4m in 2020, with most of that money backing losing campaigns.

It spent $16.6m backing Mr Trump, and $5.9m supporting Republicans in the run-offs for two Georgia Senate seats won by Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

The group logged more wins in 2020 in races where it spent less. It backed 109 successful House candidates, spending an average of $20,100, according to OpenSecrets, a non-profit group that monitors campaign donations.

The NRA has focused more on achieving or maintaining Republican majorities in the past few cycles than on rewarding the most ardent proponents of gun rights.

It has spent heavily in battleground states such as North Carolina and Florida, and in races with endangered Democratic incumbents, but little in relatively safe Republican states such as Texas.

When challenger Beto O’Rourke raised $34m more than Ted Cruz in 2018, the NRA spent only $91,000 on the incumbent’s behalf.

“You’re going to save most of your fire for the races that are going to decide who controls the gavels in Congress,” said Michael Beckel, research director at the bipartisan political reform group Issue One.

Mr Beckel said such strategic spending enhanced a special interest’s influence with the party.

Gun-control advocates hold a vigil outside of the National Rifle Association headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. Getty Images / AFP