Silke Jasso
ATLANTA — Gun rights supporters are gathering from all over the country to attend the 2017 NRA (National Rifle Association) Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Atlanta running through Sunday. The event will feature not only a series of seminars, workshops, concerts and celebrity appearances, but it also marks the first time a sitting president will address the audience since 1983. Excitement was in the air as everyone began to arrive at the Georgia World Congress Center, and Rare was on the ground to speak to a few attendees.
Videos by Rare
Clayton Reynolds traveled around 1,500 miles all the way from Kansas to attend his third NRA convention in 26 years. While he was unable to secure tickets to President Trump’s speech, he’s still looking forward to what the weekend has in store.
RELATED: Catching up with “POTUS” at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits
“Looking forward to all of the displays and the people. I follow a lot of the people on Instagram and Facebook and whatnot,” he said of his friends and gun vendors. “They live all around the United States, and I don’t get to see them except for at an event like this.”
Mark Garnish, from just outside Atlanta, comes to the event every year and has made it to a grand total of 15 of them. He’s got a great group of friends from across the nation whom he meets up with every year, and they’re hopeful that the president will champion gun rights while he’s in office.
“He is pro gun, and I think it’s great,” he said of President Trump. “I just hope he continues to work to improve gun rights. There are a lot of things that are out there that I wish he would have acted a little more hastily on in the first 100 days, because he hasn’t really signed any new legislation. And there are some gun bills that are out there that I would love to see signed. I think they’ll get done.”
Along with attendees, a variety of vendors line the perimeter of the building and the expansive Exhibition Hall inside. Among them are various gun and gear manufacturers, hunting and fishing groups and firearm accessory companies. One unique group is Shoot Like a Girl, a women’s shooting sports organization that encourages women to familiarize themselves with firearms and get comfortable defending themselves.
“My own personal thoughts on women and firearms and our responsibilities are the exact same thoughts I have for men and for anybody else,” said Firearms Instructor Rebecca King. “It’s our responsibility to take care of ourselves and our families and the people that we love. And so if we need to do that with a firearm, then that’s what we need to do.”
Find the full schedule of events here.
