HOUSTON — Thousands of people protested for gun control outside the annual National Rifle Association convention, days after the country’s latest mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 21 people were killed, including 19 children.
The scene outside the George R. Brown Convention Center reflected the mood of a deeply divided country, with NRA opponents and supporters arrayed on opposite sides of the street, hard against two sets of barricades, with dozens of Houston police in between.
On one side, protesters chanted, “Protect our kids, not guns!” and hoisted signs that read, “No more thoughts and prayers” and “Your hobby isn’t worth our kids’ lives!” On the other side, convention attendees snapped photos and smiled.
Police barred protesters from crossing the street to confront convention attendees. But attendees occasionally crossed to interact with protesters.
Former President Trump appeared at an afternoon forum at the convention alongside Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Several other Republican leaders from Texas had pulled out, including Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Dan Crenshaw. Gov. Greg Abbott appeared via video from Uvalde.
Trump blamed the shooting on “an out-of-control lunatic” and said school security needed to be stepped up, with armed guards at every facility, instead of tightening gun laws as President Biden and other Democrats have suggested.
“The various gun control policies being advanced by the left would have done nothing to prevent the tragedy,” Trump said of the Uvalde massacre.
Courtney Harris, 29, of Houston, attended the protest with her three daughters, ages 8, 6 and 11 months. They carried signs reading, “How many more kids?” and listing 10 mass shootings in the U.S. in recent years.
After Tuesday’s shooting, Harris said, she kept her eldest daughters home from school out of fear. It didn’t matter that Uvalde is 270 miles to the west.
“It’s scary. There could be potential shooters in there buying guns for future events,” she said, gesturing to the convention center. “I can’t keep them out of school forever.”
Margaret Askandari carried a sign that said, “Stop the sale of assault rifles. Everyone has a right to life.”
Askandari, who’s Mexican American, attended the protest with her son, who is also Persian American. She said she’s become afraid after gunmen targeted people of color in Buffalo, N.Y., less than two weeks ago, and in El Paso in 2019.
“What gives them a right to shoot us?” she said.
Inside the convention hall, thousands of attendees milled among displays that featured rows of handguns, silencers, gun safes and racks of customized assault-style rifles. The crowd included many families and some young children.
Troy Tindall picked up a handgun to show his 11-year-old twin sons, who have used his AR-15-style rifle with his supervision.
After the shooting in Uvalde, some Texas Democrats and Republicans have said they plan to pursue “common-sense gun laws,” such as more extensive background checks, red-flag laws to identify gun owners who might pose an imminent threat, and increasing the age limit for buying AR-15-style rifles from 18 to 21. But many expect the NRA to mount lobbying efforts to block such measures, as they have in the past.