NRA Cancels 2020 Nashville Annual Meetings Over Coronavirus

The 2015 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits at Nashville’s Music City Center saw 78,865 in attendance over a three-day period, This year’s expected return to the city has been canceled. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The National Rifle Association announced Thursday the member group will cancel their upcoming annual meeting over Coronavirus concerns.

The 149th Annual Meeting and Exhibits were scheduled for April 16-19 in Nashville, Tennessee, a return to the city that hosted the event in 2015. However, the Volunteer State is currently under a state of emergency due to the Novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19, with the Tennessee Department of Health reporting 18 confirmed cases of the respiratory virus as of Thursday.

With that, the NRA announced the large public event would be scrubbed this year, with the group’s Board of Directors and officers later gathering to certify board elections, meetings, and other annual tasks mandated in the group’s charter.

“We sincerely regret the need for this action, particularly for our many loyal members who join us for this annual celebration of the NRA and our constitutional freedoms,” said the member organization in a statement. “Please know that we did not reach this decision lightly. We were ultimately guided by our responsibility to help ensure the safety and well-being of our NRA members, guests, and surrounding community.”

The last NRAAM at Nashville’s Music City Center saw a crowd of 78,865 in attendance. The next scheduled event is the 150th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Houston, Texas, May 14-16, 2021, at the George R. Brown Convention Center, where the group last met in 2013.

The cancelation comes just weeks after one of the largest international firearms trade shows, the IWA in Germany, was put on hold due to the outbreak.

The USCCA 2020 Expo, set originally to take place in Kansas City later this month, has been postponed until further notice following the city’s declaration of a State of Emergency. Further, the Civilian Marksmanship Program has canceled a host of events including the National JROTC Championship, which was to take place at Camp Perry, Ohio in two weeks.