Total attendance? 75,267. That didn’t beat our phenomenal record last year in Houston, at the height of the anti-gun hysteria, of 86,228, but if you took Houston out, it would have beat the St. Louis figure of 73,740, which was the record up until Houston.  We did not get the details as we did last year, due to the fact that NRA no longer allows cell phones or other electronic devices in the Board Meeting. When Bitter came out to let me know, she missed the rest of the numbers.
The Internets go to Robb Allen, who noted:
@SebastianSNBQ No big deal. @MomsDemand was only 75,167 shy of that.
— Robb Allen (@ItsRobbAllen) April 28, 2014
Haven’t been able to attend a Shot Show or NRA meeting in several years, but whenever I do I get charged up by all the people and energy. I get the same effect to a lesser degree when I attend a gun show or an organized shooting event.
It must suck to be on the other side, when the biggest rally you can get going is a hundred or so people and you had to pay the way for a lot of them. The only energy you have there is the self righteous belief that you are somehow better than the millions you claim to represent who do NOT actually support you. And/or that a billionaire just deserves to have a lot of power and take things away from people he doesn’t like because … well, he’s a billionaire, and that’s special.
At one local gun show I went to they managed to get 6 people holding signs outside vs. the thousands who ignored them and lined up to pay their dues and go into the show.
50 million dollars can gin up a lot of energy, but only for those getting a piece of it.
Our local “big” gun show never gets protested, as far as I’ve seen. Even when we had a MAIG mayor, the antis didn’t ever show up.
Then again, the venue charges for parking, and the pay booth is over 400 yards from the front door. Maybe they don’t show because they don’t want to walk and don’t have a billionaire willing to pay the $6? ;)
Thanks to you and Bitter for the coverage of the legislative side, and I agree, the numbers are about right, considering the smaller venue and Midwest vs. Texas. Great to see y’all again too!
What? What year are we living in? Do they search you? F that. And you can see how its terrible for the NRA not to allow them.
Idiots.
There’s long been a policy that you can’t have electronic recording devices in the Board meetings, but this was never interpreted to include all electronic devices until last year. They aren’t searching people. It’s the honor system. Though if you whipped out your cell or laptop in the meeting you’d be pounced on by security.
It’s fucking stupid. But I will say it’s at least applied to staff and members equally. Even executive staff and the Board have to turn them in.
That’s not actually that stupid; if it’s a blanket “no recording devices” policy. It means there’s (theoretically) only one record of the event, the official one.
Well, OK, I think bans on recording devices are stupid, but for some reason people get up in arms about being recorded even in the presence of other people.