Florida teen nails NRA for banning guns during Pence speech

A teenage survivor of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, slammed the hypocrisy of the NRA after the pro-gun group banned guns from Mike Pence’s speech at its annual meeting.

Pence is scheduled to deliver an address at the NRA’s annual leadership forum in Dallas, Texas. On the site advertising his appearance, the NRA notes that “the U.S. Secret Service will be responsible for event security” at the forum.

“As a result, firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind will be prohibited in the forum prior to and during his attendance.”

Cameron Kasky, who was at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the massacre, highlighted the prohibitions — and the absurdity. “The NRA has evolved into such a hilarious parody of itself,” he wrote.

The group has consistently and constantly argued and politically organized against gun safety measures. And it has simultaneously pushed for the presence of more guns in nearly every aspect of American lives.

In response to school massacres, the NRA has repeatedly asserted the baseless claim that a “good guy with a gun” is what is needed to ensure public safety.

And it has often furiously opposed the designation of “gun-free zones,” particularly near schools.

Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed in Parkland, remarked on the NRA statement: “According to the NRA, we should want everyone to have weapons when we are in public. But when they put on a convention, the weapons are a concern? I thought giving everyone a gun was to enhance safety. Am I missing something?”

The NRA has engaged in similar hypocrisy before. The group has held events designated as gun-free, even as it claimed that such venues are perfect hunting grounds for an “insane killer.”

It of course makes perfect sense to restrict firearms from an event attended by the vice president of the United States. Fewer guns means the Secret Service can better protect Pence.

But that is the same argument many parents have made repeatedly about safeguarding their children. And it is an argument that the NRA derides and has spent millions of dollars to defeat.

Kasky nailed the organization’s approach perfectly. It is a “parody of itself,” and a parody with deadly consequences across the country.