Dana Loesch: No, the NRA is Not Banning Guns From Their Convention

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May 1, 2018

The media attention for the tiny tot anti-gun brigade from Parkland, Florida seems to be trickling down a bit, so this week, they apparently decided to find something new to keep the public interested in their quest to disarm America.

With the NRA annual meetings coming up in Dallas, Texas, they took aim (pun not intended) at President Mike’s Pence speech, and, upon discovering that guns would be prohibited from the arena where he would be speaking, started a little rumor. They are high school kids, after all.

Fortunately for the Parkland kids, the media has been more than happy to take this little rumor and run with it. Unfortunately for the truth and all things decent, their rumor is entirely false.

“The National Rifle Association has championed the idea of ‘a good guy with a gun,’ but no firearms will be allowed when Vice President Pence speaks at its annual meeting — sparking criticism from Parkland, Fla., students, who say schools should be afforded the same protection,” reports the Washington Post, who clearly had no interest in doing their due diligence.

If they had, they would have discovered that, first of all, all public schools are gun-free zones, and not only that, but 98% of school shootings happen in gun-free zones. How many times do we have to repeat this before the public gets the memo?

Second, WaPo would have also discovered that the secret service is responsible for the “gun ban” while Pence speaks, not the NRA.

As NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch explained on her radio program, The Dana Show, yesterday afternoon, this is standard protocol whenever the President or Vice President speak. The Secret Service secures the area and it automatically becomes their jurisdiction, regardless of local and state laws about weapons or firearms in a public area.

“The convention in Dallas is not a gun-free zone, but wherever Trump and Pence go, it’s just Secret Service requirements. They’ll take your knives, they’ll take sharp objects, they’ll take a ton of stuff from you,” she clarified.

“You can’t even bring a backpack in, you can’t bring glass, you can’t bring a selfie stick, you’re not allowed laser pointers,” she explains. “It’s not the NRA doing this, it’s the Secret Service, and they only do so during the duration of Trump or Pence’s speech, [which] they always state, and then it’s fine.”

“So, all of the people who act like they’re calling someone out, they’re not calling anyone out they’re just demonstrating a complete lack of understanding as to what’s happening. Secret Service has done this for year. It has nothing to do with the NRA.”

She added you’re not getting this side of the story because it’s not as “clickbatey” as falsely demonizing the NRA.

The NRA also corroborated Loesch’s explanation in a statement to the Daily Wire, saying:

When the Vice President or President is on site that venue is no longer under NRA jurisdiction, it is under the control of the United States Secret Service. …

After the President and Vice President have left the venue NRA rules apply and people will be permitted to carry in accordance with local laws. To be clear the USSS rules are in effect until the President and Vice President leave the venue. This only applies to the exact venue where they will speak and inside that security perimeter. Other NRAAM events taking place in other areas at the same time are not subject to the USSS policy.

So, to clarify, NRA members will still be allowed to carry during the rest of the convention, meaning the NRA is absolutely still freedom’s safest place!