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The NRA convention kicks of in Texas: Is the organization still relevant?

Former President and then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association's NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Convention at the Kentucky Exposition Center on May 20, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Former President and then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the National Rifle Association's NRA-ILA Leadership Forum during the NRA Convention at the Kentucky Exposition Center on May 20, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The National Rifle Association’s convention kicks off Friday in Houston, Texas, about 275 miles from the site of the deadly mass shooting in Uvalde. That massacre was on the heels of the shooting deaths of 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

Former President Donald Trump will deliver a keynote address there Friday afternoon. Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott switched his RSVP to ‘not-in-person,’ choosing instead to send remarks by video.

Gun control advocates and some NRA members had called for the cancelation or postponement of the event.

As the national debate of gun control once again dominates the national conversation, we talk to NPR’s Tim Mak about the power of the NRA and how the organization remains relevant despite its recent bankruptcy and legal woes.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.