Republicans rule out the possibility of gun reform 2:50
(CNN) --
Some Republicans have a strange way of not politicizing the horrific Texas school massacre.
Despite accusing Democrats of constantly trying to manipulate mass shootings for political gain, several senior Republican figures, including former President Donald Trump, are expected to deliver speeches at the National Rifle Association's annual leadership forum. and the Institute for Legislative Action this Friday.
The NRA is the highly politicized body that spent decades radicalizing the GOP on guns and striking down moderate gun laws.
This resulted in a torrent of high-powered weapons that ended up in people's hands, like the kind that an 18-year-old gunman purchased legally and used to kill 19 children and two teachers on Tuesday.
The group's annual meetings will be held in Houston, Texas, just three days after the massacre, some 440 km to the east, in which innocent children were gunned down in their classroom in the town of Uvalde.
The assault was shocking in its barbarism, but not surprising, as it was only the latest mass shooting in the endless cycle of gun violence in the United States.
The NRA says it is primarily an educational organization with a mission to promote responsible and safe gun ownership and uphold the constitutional right to own a firearm under the Second Amendment.
Yet its lobbying arm has been extraordinarily influential for years, while its affiliated political arms pour millions of dollars into Republican campaigns and target candidates who advocate tougher gun laws.
Therefore, the accusation by some of the politicians who attended the forum that only Democrats play politics after the tragedy is false at best.
What you should know about the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention and why is it important?
Speakers on Friday, for example, include Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who promptly did what he accused Democrats of doing: politicizing the killings in his home state earlier this week, when he criticized them for calling for more gun safety.
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NRA members were also hoping to hear from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has made loosening gun laws a cornerstone of his re-election campaign in a state that has seen a spate of recent mass shootings.
But Abbott canceled his in-person appearance to attend a news conference in Uvalde, and his spokeswoman told the Dallas Morning News Thursday night that the governor will address the convention "via a pre-recorded video ".
Other announced participants include South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a possible 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
Controversial NRA leader Wayne LaPierre will also speak.
LaPierre sparked outrage after an eerily similar shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 with a deeply political news conference.
He had argued that more guns to protect schools should be the answer to mass shootings, rather than restrictions on assault weapons that killed multiple children in a matter of minutes.
Is there an environment in the US to legislate gun control?
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Critics Demand Cancellation of NRA Meetings Out of Respect for Victims
Gun safety advocates have criticized this year's NRA meetings for being in poor taste.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, said Wednesday on CNN's "Don Lemon Tonight" that political leaders should stay away.
“It would be respectful for families who are planning funerals for their children not to come,” he said.
"You can't say two days ago yesterday that you offer prayers and condolences to these families, and then three or four days later you show up at the NRA promoting the use of firearms and assault weapons."
The NRA has canceled its convention for the last two years, due to concerns about covid-19.
But in a statement this week, he said he would continue to pray for the victims of the Uvalde shooting and redouble his efforts to make schools safer.
But in an ironic twist, considering the NRA's lobbying arm argues that more guns at public events make everyone safer, the Secret Service has ordered that no firearms be allowed in the conference room when former President Trump be talking.
The NRA may not be the force it once was after a series of financial scandals and the rise of left-wing political gun security groups.
But his campaign and lobbying groups long ago made opposition to any form of gun control equivalent in the minds of many Republican voters to destroying the Second Amendment.
It's a bogus charge, but it has huge political consequences and is one of the reasons so many Republican lawmakers cringe from voting for any gun safety measure in Washington, even comparatively minor tweaks to background checks.
And that reluctance also explains why the country's majority support for modest gun law changes almost always hits a wall in Washington.
7 figures that show the reluctance of the republicans in the control of arms in the USA
Beto O'Rourke confronts the Texas governor: It could have been prevented 0:58
Small signs of hope in Congress on gun control
The NRA-ILA leadership forum takes place in the midst of one of the periodic political altercations that always follow armed massacres, but then fade into the background when small-scale attempts at change inevitably fail.
President Joe Biden, who will travel to Uvalde with first lady Jill Biden this Sunday, demanded to know this week: "When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?"
However, like previous Democratic President Barack Obama, Biden found that the existential nature of the Second Amendment for GOP politicians, plus the filibuster of the Senate, which some members of his own party refuse to change, means that any serious review of the gun laws is impossible.
In another burst of Democratic frustration this week, Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke confronted Abbott at a news conference where the governor was giving an update on the Uvalde tragedy.
Republicans accused O'Rourke, who is trying to unseat Abbott in November, of politicizing the issue at a time of pain, a reasonable charge under the circumstances.
O'Rourke launches proposals to prevent massacres in the US 0:42
Most American gun owners behave legally and safely.
But many Republican lawmakers can't resist the political potency of the gun issue, which often rankles their base.
And many, who still deny any correlation between the availability of high-powered weapons, lax gun laws and mass murder, are never ready to discuss security measures.
The horror just continues.
In Washington, Republicans tried to portray the Texas massacre as the isolated act of a mentally ill gunman, a random act of evil that could not have been stopped.
Such arguments ignore the fact that other countries that are not saturated with guns have similar levels of mental illness as the United States, but are not heartbroken by regular mass shootings.
While experience suggests that even a tentative opening for change by Republicans is a short-term tactic designed to deflect political pressure, there was at least a small sign of movement on Capitol Hill Thursday.
Earlier this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Texas killings the act of a lone "maniac."
But on Thursday, the Kentucky Republican encouraged Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas to work with Democrats to see if there is any common ground for legislation in response to the Texas elementary school shooting.
Cornyn, whose office said earlier this week that an "unexpected change in his schedule" prevented him from speaking at the NRA meeting, said he wasn't sure if the effort could forge a compromise on expanding background checks. , but expected a "new and heightened sense of urgency" in the wake of the carnage that unfolded in his home state.
Still, Cornyn warned that no new law could be used "as an excuse to infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens" which, he said, "will do nothing to fix tragedies like this."
US records 109 mass shootings so far in 2022, nine recorded this weekend
Summary: Shooting in Uvalde, Texas, massacre chronology and testimonies 28:22
the gun lobby
This is where the tortured politics of gun control comes into play.
The gun lobby and like-minded voters in the GOP base often insist that any measure to regulate the sale of guns or any restrictions on the type of weapons that can be purchased represents an infringement of the constitutional right to bear weapons.
While the Constitution enshrines the right to bear arms, it does not specify that people have unlimited rights to use fearsome weapons on the battlefield that the founders could never have imagined.
But the resulting pressure on Republicans from the gun lobby, which often insists yes, almost always kills meaningful reform.
Such tactics, a testament to the political skill and influence of groups like the NRA over the years, have even in the past forced Trump, a leader with an almost mystical connection to the Republican voter base, to march. behind.
Under fierce pressure after a 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, Trump staged a notable televised event in which he accused fellow Republicans of being "afraid" of the NRA and vowed to work with Democrats on legislative reform. , perhaps even raising the minimum age to buy semi-automatic weapons.
Such a law, had it been in place, could have prevented the 18-year-old Uvalde shooter from buying a gun.
Trump, however, soon backed down as the furor over the Florida massacre faded, dimming the political incentives for him to take that risk.
The episode was just one minor irregularity in the former president's often cynical use of the issue of gun control for his own political gain, a trend often evident in other areas of his time in office.
Now, Trump appears to be gearing up for a White House bid in 2024 and seems unlikely to take any chances after another gun tragedy.
That's why his commitment, in a statement on his social media platform, to providing "real leadership" at Friday's forum seems like a long shot.
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