Here’s a rundown of what’s been going on in Louisville thus far.
Get into town just after noon Thursday. Hookup my laptop to check my e-mail. Send out notices about the junior hunting bill A-11033, colored guns in Nassau Co., and some microstamping demonstration New Yorkers Against Gun Violence is planning on holding next week in Albany.
Around 5:30pm head over to the hotel where Tom and the other NRA directors are staying. Hook up with him, Joe, Brain, and Brenda in a bar outside the hotel. We then head over to the Maker’s Mark lounge for happy hour with some gun bloggers and ILA staff. The first guy who introduces himself to me works for NSSF and says he got my e-mail about the microstamping demo. Gotta love the power of the internet. I had an interesting talk with Jim Dark from TSRA. He tells me Texas politicans are happy enough when TSRA does a mailing for them and when they do make contributions it’s only $250 for state reps. I inform him of the cash is king philosophy in New York.
This morning I head back to the NRA hotel at 8:00am for a ILA grassroots breakfast and seminar. Have coffee and my cell phone rings. One of our members asking about the microstamping business … ILA starts with the presentations. Chris Cox & Wayne LaPierre made appearances along with 2nd VP David Keene, 1st VP Ron Schmeits and current president John Sigler. Said hello to John when he arrived. There were about 200 people in attendance and only two other NYers besides myself, local EVCs I hadn’t met before.
Lunchtime I head over to the “Celebration of American Values” event. Secret Service and police were all over the place due to John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney and other politicans being in attendance. I had a press pass and blew past hundreds of people waiting in line. There were two special sections for the press with raised patforms that gave a good vantage point for pictures. Mitt Romney came over to the section I was in to do an interview with someone. Not sure if the Secret Service appreciated it when I, followed by a bunch of the gun bloggers, went to the other side of the platform to get a better shot of Romney. We were later taken by NRA staff and the Secret Service up close to the main stage when Sen. Mitch McConnell and John McCain were speaking and I have some good pictures of them both.
Of the speeches themselves, I though Ollie North did a great job as did Karl Rove. Romney’s was basically red-meat conservatism. I knew his antigun voting record while he was Governor and it didn’t impress me. McCain’s speech is available here. He was honest enough to admit he wants background checks at gun shows. So-called campaign finance “reform” didn’t come up. It was about what I expected from McCain. He’s not the ideal candidate and I think most people realize that, but the alternatives really suck and the decision of whom to support is going to have to be based on that.
Afterwards, I stop by NRANews to say hello to the gang and give Cam a R&P hat. I wander around the main display hall for awhile. I talk with the DuraCoat people about their Bloomberg line of finishing kits. They’re going to come out next with a Bloomberg line of rifles. I saw a protoype optical sight of theirs with a very lifelike imprint of an angry Bloomberg head on it.
