Concealed carry confusion at NRA Nashville Meeting

National gun control groups seized an opportunity to satirize concealed carry policies at the 144th National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting, but didn’t quite hit the mark.

The confusion began Thursday when Mom’s Demand Action leader Shannon Watts tweeted an article from the New York Daily News that the NRA would not have functional firearms on the exhibit floor, calling the gun rights organization out on its support for legislation to increase right to carry law.

The Daily News article referenced only alluded to exhibited firearms at vendor booths and in presentations being made non-operational for liability reasons, not for lawful concealed carry. A further Rachael Maddow piece with the same information was posted on Everytown for Gun Safety’s social media account, citing, “The irony is hard to miss.”

On the issue of armed attendees, however, the NRA advised it defaults to local laws and the law of the land in Nashville is that – for the primary venue at least – concealed carry is alive and well.

“During the 2015 NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits, lawfully carried firearms will be permitted in the Music City Center with the proper license in accordance with Tennessee law,” Catherine Mortensen, NRA Spokesperson told Guns.com Thursday.

The sprawling 1.2 million square foot Music City Center complex along Nashville’s downtown area is the location for the bulk of the presentations and booths for this weekend’s meeting of the gun rights group.

Mortensen advised that events at the Bridgestone Arena, the site of an NRA-sponsored concert Saturday night, prohibit the possession of firearms as they have always done.

The NRA Annual Meeting runs through Sunday and is expected to draw over 70,000 attendees.

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