President Trump’s attendance at an annual National Rifle Association convention later this month is drawing vows of street protests by gun-control groups.
Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said the group’s “volunteers will be in Atlanta” during the NRA’s annual meeting, “just as we have been showing up at town halls and in statehouses across the country to stand up for the safety of our families and communities.”
“We will not be silenced,” she said.
Mr. Trump is expected to become the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan in 1983 to address the NRA-ILA Leadership forum on April 28. He received enthusiastic support from gun-rights groups and gun owners during the campaign last year.
Since his inauguration, Mr. Trump has been taking some steps to roll back Obama-era efforts at gun control. He signed a repeal of the Obama administration’s move which had allowed the Social Security Administration to strip some disability beneficiaries of gun-ownership rights, based on SSA’s listed mental disorders.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke also has ended an Obama-era ban against using lead ammunition on federal lands.
Moms Demand Action, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, said gun-rights groups are “cashing in” on their investment in Mr. Trump.
“The extremist leadership of the NRA spent $30 million dollars in the last election cycle for a seat at the table in the White House where they’re pushing their dangerous ’guns everywhere’ agenda,” Ms. Watts said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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