NRA Convention III: Where were the protesters?

Posted on May 16, 2009 in Phoenix

Some random thoughts on my first NRA convention …

What a lot of people! Tens of thousands of participants, hundreds of exhibitors with big dollar presentations (I’ve worked industry trade shows — I know how much it costs to setup and man a highly customized booth and active display — and many here are top notch). It was a celebration of firearms ownership, and while the average attendee was white and middle aged there were no races or age groups not represented. Clearly the NRA is alive and well in America, whatever their effect or lack thereof on the last election.

I did not, however, see even a single anti-gun protester. If the anti-gun groups ever had a convention (which could probably be carried out in a Hotel Suite rather than a convention center, given they are groups of activists and rich donors and not millions of voters) some response from pro-gun advocates would be almost assured. The Brady Campaign figureheads may appear predominately in main stream media articles/news shows, but there are no throngs of people to come to their show.

I saw a fair amount of “open carry,” mostly by people in their twenties. Older guys either weren’t obviously carrying or had a fanny pack around their waists. I wasn’t carrying myself because I knew I’d be going to a restaurant that serves alcohol on the way back to my room. I imagine that’s common in Arizona — how often do we all, even those of us who don’t drink (much) — end up at a restaurant that serves alcohol, or at least have a potential to on any given day.

All the people I interacted with were very politically aware. Whether eveasdroping at a shared table while eating in the cafe or while at a booth looking at some fine new handguns, political conversations were constant and intelligent. What a difference from most of my political conversations recently, mostly with people who voted for Mr. Obama even though they’re generally pro-gun and pro-free market, who rudely turn away when I start talking about facts from Mr. Obama’s past AND what is actively up on his transition website. To date Mr. Obama has done little that is openly anti-gun, and excluded his administration from doing several things for the short term (such as a new AWB), but his desires are clear both from his current websites and past history.

Of course, he was also clear on his desire not to do military tribunals, and look where that went …