April 26 (UPI) — President Donald Trump will speak Friday at his fifth-consecutive National Rifle Association Convention, this year in Indianapolis.
Trump is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. EDT during the event’s Leadership Forum, which is part of the organization’s annual conference at Lucas Oil Stadium.
At last year’s convention in Dallas, Trump used the event to encourage Republicans to make sure to vote in the 2018 midterm elections, which saw his party lose control of the House, but maintain a hold on the Senate. He and Vice President Mike Pence also expressed firm support for arming teachers in schools at last year’s event, which drew opposition from demonstrators.
Since the last convention, Trump has shown support for a new federal law banning bump stocks and other devices that converts a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic machine gun.
The NRA endorsed Trump for president during its May 2016 convention in Louisville, Ky., at which the then-presidential candidate said if more individuals carried guns, fewer people would die in mass shootings like the one in San Bernardino, Calif., months before.
Friday, some anti-gun and anti-Trump activists plan to protest the convention in downtown Indianapolis. Kathleen Robertson, who organized a protest against Trump’s relationship with the NRA on the State Capitol grounds, said she expects hundreds of demonstrators.
“The only way we are going to get this down is by loud, sustained protests in the streets,” she told WTHR-TV in Indianapolis.
The convention, which runs through Sunday, will feature 800 exhibitors and more than 650,000 square feet of exhibit space. Other notable speakers include Pence, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin. Country music star Alan Jackson will perform Saturday evening.
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