The National Rifle Association (NRA) claims to have 5 million members. Up to 70,000 of them are expected to gather April 14-16 for the 152nd Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Indianapolis.
Former President Donald Trump is slated to deliver a speech to the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) at the event’s Leadership Forum on Friday. The NRA-ILA is the lobbying arm of the organization.
Longtime NRA members say they are looking forward to joining other Second Amendment advocates and furthering the association’s work.
“Gun rights are important,” Zach Hall, a firearms’ accessories manufacturer from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told The Epoch Times.
The gun rights group will also host a number of conservative politicians who are hoping to impress attendees with their Second Amendment bona fides.
In addition to Trump, scheduled speakers include former vice president Mike Pence, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and entrepreneur and presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) are to deliver video messages.
According to Hall, a 15-year NRA member, part of the reason Americans can enjoy their freedoms is that they have the right to defend them. The NRA might focus on the Second Amendment, he said, but its work extends beyond the right to bear arms.
“We’re the last free country; if this one goes down, that’s it.”
‘We’re the Last Free Country’
Douglas Schlauch of Ohio agreed.
He said all of America’s freedoms are rooted in the right of the people to own firearms.
If we didn’t have the Second Amendment, we wouldn’t have the First Amendment or any of the amendments,” Schlauch told The Epoch Times.
Those interviewed acknowledged that the NRA had endured some scandals in recent years. These included intra-organization political fights and accusations of fiscal mismanagement.
There was a failed bankruptcy filing in 2019.
Through it all, they said, the NRA has remained focused on its mission and is the major player in the fight to defend the Second Amendment.
The group remains the most influential gun rights organization in the country, they said.
The proof, said Hall, is that gun control activists always blame the NRA for their failures.
“They always say, ‘We can’t do anything because of the NRA.’”
Schlauch has been s member for 35 years. While he’s uncertain how much of what the media reports he can believe, Schlauch said the NRA has remained focused on its mission.
He pointed out that politicians have tried for years to do away with the Second Amendment in one way or another.
“The Second Amendment would have already been gone without the NRA”