02-06-2005, 01:48 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Addict
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NRA convention has Houston, Texas in its sights - April 15th
Probably wont be able to read the link to the Chronicle's web page. I think they require you to register. But I read this in the paper today. The NRA will be coming to Houston, Texas April 15th for a three day convention. I finally joined the NRA last month at the Houston Gun Collectors Association gun show at Reliant Park. I'm definitely going to try going to the NRA convention.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3025103
Quote:
Feb. 5, 2005, 12:08AM
NRA convention has Houston in its sights
City expects an economic boost of about $20 million
By RACHEL GRAVES
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Hunting, politics and the latest in firearms technology will share the stage in April when the National Rifle Association brings this year's annual convention to the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The NRA expects 40,000 people for the three-day event, which starts April 15.
Firearms displays, presented by about 400 exhibitors, will sprawl through two halls containing a total 20,000 square feet. And the event, whose attendance will about equal that of the annual International Quilt Festival, is expected to bring the city about $20 million, local officials said.
"This is an annual opportunity for freedom-loving Americans to celebrate the Second Amendment, talk about important political issues and learn more about the culture of shooting sports," said NRA spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs.
Based on the NRA's experience in other cities, the gathering also could draw people exercising their First Amendment rights. A protest march at last year's convention in Pittsburgh drew about 50 people, and about twice that many picketed the convention center.
In Houston this year, Hobbs said, the convention will include a "grass-roots workshop to help mobilize members in the political arena," as well as seminars concerning firearms for women's self-protection, hunting in Africa and Texas, and World War II weaponry. A course in firearms law for lawyers representing gun owners, retailers and manufacturers also will be offered.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, will be the convention's keynote speaker.
DeLay, said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam, "has been a steadfast proponent of law-abiding Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights."
Jordy Tollett, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, said he is "very, very glad" the organization is bringing its convention to Houston.
The 60,000 conventioneers in Pittsburgh last year added an estimated $7 million to that city's economy, said Pittsburgh conventions spokeswoman Laura Ellis.
But the convention also brought some controversy. Among the protesters was Tom Mauser, whose son was among those killed during the 1999 rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.
He displayed on a poster quotes from a letter he wrote NRA official Charlton Heston instructing the group to "quit protecting the dark side of the gun trade." The actor never answered the letter, Mauser told reporters.
The NRA was forced to cut back activities at its 1999 convention, which was held in Denver less than two weeks after the Columbine shooting, in which two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before turning their guns on themselves. Seven thousand people took to the streets to protest the organization.
Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, predicted protests would occur in Houston. The anti-firearms group is named for President Reagan's press secretary James Brady, who was critically wounded in a March 1981 attempt on Reagan's life.
Tollett said he "never heard of real controversy" regarding NRA conventions.
Today, the NRA says, the organization is a leader in firearms education, with 50,000 certified trainers instructing 750,000 gun owners a year.
Chronicle reporter Allan Turner contributed to this story
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