27 May NRA to Shamelessly Host Donald Trump as Featured Speaker Following Mass Shooting, Raising Questions About Nevada Endorsees’ Positions on Gun Safety
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 27, 2022
Contact: Will Pregman, wpregman@battlebornprogress.org, 702.752.0656
NRA to Shamelessly Host Donald Trump as Featured Speaker Following Mass Shooting, Raising Questions About Nevada Endorsees’ Positions on Gun Safety
NEVADA – Today, mere days after the mass school shooting in Uvalde, TX, in which 21 people, including 19 students and 2 faculty, were murdered with an AR-15, the National Rifle Association (NRA) will hold it’s Annual Leadership Conference in Houston, less than 300 miles from the site of the shooting. Guns will reportedly be banned from the venue despite insistence by the NRA, and the politicians who answer to them, that “gun-free zones” are a major factor to blame for gun violence and that more weapons, not less, somehow make everyone safer. Donald Trump has endorsed both Adam Laxalt and Joe Lombardo for Nevada’s Senate and Gubernatorial races, respectively.
“It feels like there isn’t much left to say about this latest mass shooting that killed 19 young children and 2 hard-working educators. Everyone deserves to be able to live, work, and go to school without the looming threat of being shot by yet another AR-15-wielding gunman. And yet, many of our nation’s political leaders have sat idly by, watching these same circumstances happen again and again, offering nothing but shallow ‘thoughts and prayers’ because to do more might risk their good-standing inside the gun industry lobby’s pocket,” said Annette Magnus, Executive Director of Battle Born Progress.
“Nevada has made significant progress under Governor Steve Sisolak to finally take real action on gun violence, which infamously ended 61 lives five years ago on 1 October. Nevada has implemented background checks on gun sales, safe storage legislation, extreme-risk protection orders, revised limits on alcohol usage and firearms, and banned ghost guns. While the latter continues to be fought in court by the same death merchant lobbyists who most likely eagerly await the disgraced former president’s speech in Houston this weekend, we continue to push forward on policies that encourage responsible gun ownership to keep our communities safe from gun violence.
But Trump’s influence is not limited to the audience in Houston. He has endorsed former Attorney General Adam Laxalt to be Nevada’s next Senator, a man who repeatedly made his loyalty to the gun lobby known in his refusal to implement the background check ballot petition passed by Nevada voters under his tenure. He’s also endorsed Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo for Governor, who in spite of being Las Vegas’ top law enforcement officer and who was in command on 1 October, has come out against banning ghost guns. Due to their untraceable nature, ghost guns are increasingly the weapon-of-choice for violent gun crime, including attacks aimed at law enforcement. While Lombardo’s primary opponents try to cast him as a moderate on guns, his proposed agenda is still one of recklessness and enabling of gun violence in our communities.
As a city and a state all too familiar with the horror of mass shootings, it is damning for a candidate seeking office not to take seriously the threat our communities face from gun violence. Whether it’s Laxalt being another one of Mitch McConnell’s empty suits to vote in lock step with the gun lobby, or Lombardo assuming the Governor’s mansion to block and undo the progress Nevada has made on this issue, both of these men and their agenda, like Donald Trump, are wrong for Nevada. We vow to work with all of our elected leaders to champion common sense gun safety policies that ensure responsible gun ownership, and remind eligible voters in Nevada about where candidates for these offices stand on this critical issue in the upcoming election.”
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