OK So I finally have some time to write my thoughts on the NRA show.
First up, I do it for the people. Got to meet a bunch of people for the first time, and got to see a lot of old friends that I don’t get to see very often.
Overall the show itself was lackluster. Since most companies are having a hard time keeping up with general demand, they aren’t wasting time developing NEW guns that may or may-not sell. There are a few newer companies I talked to, and will be blogging about soon.
Still the impressive thing was the turnout. Over 80,000 people in one of the biggest NRA Venues ever rented. Also the biggest representation of women and minorities. This was NOT a convention of middle-aged white men. There were women, there were children, and there were people of every color, and not in incidental numbers.
Also while the NRA turnout was record-breaking, the protest was mostly sponsored by Bloomberg’s “Moms Demand Action”, and it was maybe 40 strong, and not particularly organized. They attempted to start a chant several times….note I said “Attempted”.
It was a great show, and a great time!
And on a side note that I’ve been pointing out regarding that protest: If the anti’s claims that 90% of Americans support universal background checks were true, and only 0.1% of that part of the population of Houston* cared enough to protest, they would have had over 1800 people show up. Note that that’s just Houston. I’m not counting anyone in the surrounding areas, or the rest of the country that might have cared enough to make the trip.
If you assume – because TEXAS! – that only 25% of Houston supported universal background checks, and only 0.1% cared enough to protest, they still could have had over 500 people.
What they had, instead, was 0.003% of their “90%”. Only 3/1000 of one percent.
But they wonder why they can’t get the votes in Congress to support their agenda.
* The pop. of Houston is approximately 2.1 million.