NRA Gun Convention in Texas Opens After School Massacre Despite Pleas From Houston Mayor for Postponement
As about 80,000 people are expected to descend on Houston for the National Rifle Association's gun convention, 19 tiny caskets are being readied for upcoming funerals.
Several star performers have pulled out of the National Rifle Association’s convention’s concert occurring this weekend in Houston, Texas, 300 miles away from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where 21 people, 19 of them children, were slain by an 18-year-old with an assault rifle. It’s believed to be the 30th mass shooting at a K-12 school this year and the deadliest since 2012’s Sandy Hook massacre.
Lee Greenwood said he made the call to not perform “out of respect for those mourning the loss of innocent children.”
Don McLean said it would be “disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform.”
Country Star Larry Gatlin also canceled his performance and spoke with Inside Edition about his decision to do so.
Outside the NRA convention, protesters held crosses with photos of the victims of Tuesday’s shooting. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he was powerless to stop the convention, but said he believed the NRA should postpone its convention out of respect for the victims.
“It’s disrespectful to be talking about guns when 19 kids have been killed,” he said.
As about 80,000 convention-goers are expected to descend on Houston, 19 tiny caskets are being readied for upcoming funerals. Trey Gamen has the heartbreaking task of customizing the children’s caskets to the families’ specifications.
One has been transformed into a vintage car, while another reflects a love for Mickey Mouse. Gamen is paying for the caskets and working on them for free. The local funeral home across from the school is providing funerals for the victims for free.