The National Rifle Association boasts of 14 acres worth of metal smithed merchandise in Houston. It’s expected that tens of thousands of people will visit its annual convention.
The NRA says its members should reflect on the Uvalde massacre, but it — and many of its members — say firearms themselves aren't the problem.
"We have a culture of violence promoted by Hollywood and other types that are making money off of it," said NRA member Don Wright. "And we're blaming the tool."
"That gun doesn't jump up and kill somebody," said NRA member Bo Peevey. "It's how people were raised and what they [were] raised around."
"We need to start looking at mental health," said NRA member John Jung. "We need to start looking at how parents are actually parenting their children."
But not every member was as absolute.
"They are teenagers who are buying guns, which I sometimes see that maybe that's not a good idea," said NRA member Mohammed Janjua. "But then it comes to a point where like there is a Constitution, right? But I think there has to be some kind of balance."
"I don't agree with that, that you should be able to just — anybody can just go get one," said NRA member Renee McNeely. "I do believe that you should have — I had a background check when I got mine, too, you know, and I don't have a problem with it."
Outside, protesters gathered once again, demanding at least something be done to address the cancer of mass shootings. Two of them told us they used to be NRA members.
"It struck me how inflammatory the NRA was," said former NRA member Terry Virts. "And they operate on fear and anger. Like everything. Like facebook, like twitter, like Trump, like the Left.”
"The NRA used to be more about gun safety in gun training programs," said former NRA member Delia Justice. "And then I watched them become more of a domestic terrorist cult."
The gathering was loud and full of invective, but peaceful. Yet that was threatened by a cell of Proud Boys, a well documented fascist street fighting club. Police eventually dispersed them.
