The National Rifle Association hosted its Annual Meeting this weekend at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. The NRA expected up to 70,000 people to attend the convention, which included workshops and vendors selling guns and gear.
Saturday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former President Donald Trump spoke at the convention.
"According to the NRA, since I became governor, Texas has passed more significant second amendment protections than any other state," Abbott said.
Abbott cited the passage of laws allowing guns to be carried on college campuses and for guns to be carried openly. In 2021, the legislature also passed a law eliminating the requirement for a license to carry a gun.
Abbott also talked about border security during his speech.
"Texas is the only state in the history of America to build our own border wall," he said. "We did not reinvent the wheel here. We are building the exact same wall Donald Trump came up with, which is impenetrable."
Trump followed Abbott and spoke for more than an hour. Trump said the Biden Administration had reversed action he took to secure the border.
"We had 200 miles of wall ready to go, then we had the rigged election and they decided not to put them up," Trump said. "They saw that very expensive wall that was exactly what the Border Patrol wanted. I wanted a nice beautiful, 40, 50-foot concrete plank. They didn't like that."
Trump said he would "replace weakness with strength," saying Republicans must win this November.
"Our country is going to hell," he said. "Rapacious gangs and ruthless criminals are terrorizing our streets. Crooked Joe Biden's weakness has us teetering on the edge of World War Three."
Trump also endorsed four Republicans who will be in run-offs for the party's nomination for state legislature. Early voting in primary run-offs starts Monday and runs through Friday. Election Day is May 28.
Texas Democrats criticized Abbott and Trump for "pandering" to the NRA as the anniversary of the Uvalde school shooting approaches. May 24, 2022, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary before he was shot and killed by police.
"Less than a week before the anniversary of the worst school shooting in Texas history, Donald Trump is once again disgracing the memory of the victims of the unspeakable massacre at Robb Elementary School by towing the NRA and gun lobby line. Donald Trump and Texas Republicans made the gun violence epidemic worse, especially in our state, where we have seen nine mass shootings just in the last 15 years. Even after Uvalde parents pleaded with Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz for common sense gun safety laws, they decided, like Trump – that the NRA and gun lobby was more important," Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa wrote in a statement.
Hinojosa says Joe Biden and Democrats are "working with both parties on bipartisan, common sense gun safety solutions that will make our families’s [sic] lives safer and finally curb the epidemic of gun violence.”
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