No, The NRA Is Not Banning Guns At Its Convention (Updated)

No, The NRA Is Not Banning Guns At Its Convention (Updated)

Despite the knowledge that a growing number of Americans deem the media untrustworthy and consider much of what is reported as #FakeNews, the leftist and mainstream media just can’t seem to help themselves.

They are whipping themselves into a frenzy over an NRA flier and further exploiting the Parkland shooting in their attempt to create a sense of what they feverishly—and falsely—claim is the NRA’s hypocrisy.

The latest unfounded outrage by the perpetually outraged is captured in the following headlines:

From HuffPo:  NRA Convention Bans Guns To Protect Mike Pence. Parkland Survivors’ Jaws Drop

From The Hill:  Parkland survivor calls out NRA for banning guns at convention

From Think Progress:  Parkland shooting survivors cry hypocrisy after NRA bans guns during Pence speech

From the Daily Beast:  Parkland Survivors Call Out NRA for Gun Ban

Attendees of Trump's NRA speech had to check their guns at the door: https://t.co/PA5Y9FtSjD

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) April 28, 2017

Guns don't make you safer: No guns allowed around Trump #NRAAM #NRAAM17 pic.twitter.com/QDhPaTeY3Q

— Violence Policy Center (@VPCinfo) April 28, 2017

The problem?  It is not the NRA banning guns, it’s the Secret Service, and they are doing so only during the appearances of Secret Service protectees.  This is noted clearly at the top of the sign that purportedly points to NRA “hypocrisy”:  “Hall A3 is under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Secret Service during the Leadership forum.”

In an ironic twist of ironic irony, the Parkland survivor hailed as “calling out the NRA,” actually tweeted the real reason that guns are not permitted at the Leadership Conference featuring Secret Service protectee Vice President Mike Pence.

The NRA has evolved into such a hilarious parody of itself. pic.twitter.com/6Pw6NTQAe6

— Cam (@cameron_kasky) April 28, 2018

He’s in high school, so he has an excuse.  The media, eager to destroy the NRA even at the cost of its own credibility and professionalism, does not.

Even the HuffPo article cited above includes the following:  “The NRA posted the restrictions ― a requirement of the Secret Service ― on a website announcing the conference. [emphasis added]”  They know it’s not the NRA, but they also know that “Secret Service Bans Guns During President and VP Appearances” or “Secret Service Does Its Job” aren’t nearly as click-baity as falsely demonizing the NRA.

Townhall reports:

Today, a few anti-gun organizations (and the Associated Press) sent out tweets claiming that the National Rifle Association (NRA) had supposedly banned firearms and ammunition from its annual meeting.

. . . . However, one small problem: it’s fake news. The NRA doesn’t ban these things, the Secret Service did during President Trump’s speech. People were otherwise allowed to carry weapons throughout the event.

Once again: These are Secret Service rules. The NRA does not impose these rules anywhere at the convention. https://t.co/nSsedDXRzQ

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) April 28, 2017

The NRA firearm policy, excluding the appearances of the President and Vice President whose security falls under the Secret Service’s purview, can be found on its website:

During the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, lawfully carried firearms will be permitted in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and the Omni Dallas Hotel in accordance with Texas law. When carrying your firearm remember to follow all federal, state, and local laws.

Specific events involving Secret Service protectees are noted as such on the NRA convention site:

Due to the attendance of the Vice President of the United States, the U.S. Secret Service will be responsible for event security at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum.  As a result, firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind will be prohibited in the forum prior to and during his attendance.

These rules are backed up by Dana Loesch who is in attendance . . . and carrying.

This is a lie. I've been carrying since I got here yesterday. #NRAAM https://t.co/wclqdLK9uG

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 28, 2017

Secret Service controls only the speech. We went through this nonsense last year with you people. #NRAAM https://t.co/IAXUsHdXmd

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) April 28, 2017

Meanwhile, since the Parkland shooting, the “NRA posts biggest fundraising haul in nearly 20 years.”

The NRA should probably thank the mainstream media because the more #FakeNews they churn out, the worse they look and the better the NRA looks.

Update (FS, 4/30/18, 5:15 p.m.)

Not only did the Washington Post leap on the #FakeNews bandwagon with its “The NRA said guns will be banned during a Pence speech. Parkland students see hypocrisy,” but the AP doubled-down this morning.  Only to be forced to delete their tweet and tweet an acknowledgement that they had misrepresented the (very clear) facts.

Twitchy has the original tweet from the AP:

It has since been deleted, and the AP issued the following statement via Twitter:

AP has deleted a tweet that incorrectly said the NRA had banned guns during Trump and Pence speeches at its annual meeting. The ban was put in place by the Secret Service. A corrected tweet is coming.

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 30, 2018

Here’s the deal, though: everyone, including the AP, knew this was a Secret Service requirement . . . because every piece of “evidence” provided shows that it was the Secret Service, not the NRA, instituting typical procedure for the protection of its charges.  Why, then, does the AP (and WaPo) continue to publish what they know to be #FakeNews?

It makes absolutely no sense.  Sure, the dim-witted, uninformed leftists will embrace this narrative, but the majority of Americans do not fall into this teensy-tiny little category.  Why destroy your credibility with the majority by perpetrating a demonstrably false narrative, a known lie?

Where do you go when you do this kind of thing and then whinge on about the President calling you out for your obvious and unhinged bias and for publishing absolute lies (i.e. #FakeNews)?  Who will defend you when you make the conscious decision to do exactly that in an indefensible display of partisan hackery?

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