NRA CANCELS 2007 COLUMBUS, OHIO CONVENTION OVER "ASSAULT WEAPONS" BAN

July 18, 2005--Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association, announced today that the organization has cancelled plans to hold its annual convention in Columbus, Ohio. LaPierre stated the cancellation was in response to the Columbus city council's vote to ban military-style semi-automatic firearms. (See Columbus, Ohio City Council Votes To Ban "Assault Weapons.")

“Two months ago, I was pleased to announce that the National Rifle Association chose the great city of Columbus to host our 136th Annual Meetings and Exhibits in May of 2007,” LaPierre said. “The NRA is not coming to Columbus in 2007. The convention is cancelled because last week your City Council unanimously voted to revoke the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens in Columbus by banning perfectly legal firearms.”

"Thanks to the Columbus City Council, 65,000 people will not be coming to your wonderful convention center," LaPierre continued. 'Hundreds of exhibitors will not fill your halls with the latest guns, outdoor gear, and accessories."

The three-day convention was expected to draw 60,000 or more attendees, and pump some $15 million into the city's economy.

Experience Columbus, central Ohio's convention and visitors bureau, had worked for months to attract the NRA. Officials described the event as one of the largest conventions the bureau has ever booked.

Joe Marinelli, senior vice president of sales for Experience Columbus, said his group was holding 7,000 hotel rooms for the NRA.

City officials were quick to criticize the NRA's decision.

"We fully support Americans' constitutional right to bear arms and respect hunters, sportsmen and law-abiding gun owners, but we will not have our public safety policies dictated by national special interest groups," Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said. "We will not be held hostage by the NRA or any other group which attempts to force its agenda against the safety of our residents. The assault weapons ban passed ... is a reasonable piece of legislation that has widespread community and police

Gun-control groups also criticized the NRA's action.

"The NRA's actions today are nothing less than an assault on the values of our community," said Toby Hoover, executive director of the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence. "We applaud the city of Columbus for standing up to this extremist organization and hope their courage becomes an example to other communities and lawmakers."

City Councilman Mike Mentel, the sponsor of the "assault weapons" ban, said that the NRA had been informed in advance of the vote on the ban, and said that the ban was in the best interest of the city of Columbus.

LaPierre responded by challenging Mentel.

"I would like to see City Council member Mentel go to the range and prove to you in any way that these guns fire faster, that they make bigger holes, that they're weapons of war, that they're convertible or any of the other outrageous claims they've made in describing the guns on this Columbus ban list," LaPierre said. "It's simply not true."

The NRA's 2006 convention is scheduled to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a state pre-emption law, which prohibits municipalities from enacting gun control laws more stringent than state law. Thus, a ban such as the one enacted in Columbus would not be possible in Milwaukee or any other Wisconsin city.

 

   
 

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