Hindsight View From the 2016 NRA Annual Meeting

The NRA Annual Meeting is over, and it's now time to reflect on how it went. Overall, I'd say that the meeting was a great time. To my knowledge, everything that was supposed to happen, did, in fact happen. There were speakers, voting, lots of good music and plenty of guns.

Speaking of the guns, I can't name a place I'd rather be than in the company of so many gun owners. I brought my good buddy from California with me, and he said on more than one occasion: I bet this is the safest place in America right now. And, I believe he was right. I know that I was carrying a concealed handgun. I'm sure I wasn't the only one.

One of the speakers on hand was Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump—someone who incites mass riots almost everywhere he goes—to no fault of his own. The funny thing is, I didn't notice any Trump rioters in Louisville, KY. There were plenty of police in attendance who were ready for stupidity to abound, but…

…I guess the rioters figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to riot with 70,000 armed and angry Americans present. There is hope for America after all!

I can say, however, that the mere presence of “the Donald” brought much distress in the way of just getting into the building. It took us more than three hours just to get into the parking lot on the first day, when he was scheduled to speak. When we finally did get in, we saw an over-watch on the building with binoculars just keeping an eye on things and police officers all over the place. My best guess as to why, is because of all the nice people wanting to tell Trump how they feel about him.

Speaking of Trump, I know that there were plenty of people pissed that they couldn't bring their firearms to hear him and the other speakers talking. But I'm guessing that was due to the secret service guarding the man with so many death threats. Still, at an NRA convention, you'd think that firearms would have been a non-issue.

As I said, though, I did carry my 1911 with me just about everywhere I went within Indiana and Kentucky.

We had to hit the road early Sunday morning, so we missed the last day. Sadly, duty calls. Plus, I have an audience to write for. We were there for the whole day on Saturday, however, and the convention center was very congested. There were certain spots where it was nearly impossible not to rub elbows with other attendees. (as a side note, in the Marines we called that A to B. It meant A$$h*les to bellybuttons) I could be upset about how many people were there, but I'm not. It tells me that the firearms industry is as healthy as ever in this fine country of ours.

While not as big as SHOT Show (square footage wise), there was a lot of walking involved, and I'm sure I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to. But, there's always next year.

Sound Off Gun Carriers! Did you make it to Louisville for the NRA Annual Meeting? What did you think about it? What was your favorite part? Let us know in the comments below. And, to keep up with everything Trump VS Hillary, make sure you sign up for the Absolute Rights Newsletter. It's free, and guarantees that you don't miss any news.