FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2024
Dallas, Texas - Days after the first anniversary of a deadly mass shooting that shook North Texas, Donald Trump has arrived in Dallas to deliver a keynote speech at the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) annual meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center. In recent years, the NRA has taken a special interest in Texas, spending more to support Texas Republicans than in any other state.
During last year’s remarks at the same convention, Donald Trump proposed using tax-payer dollars to provide teachers with firearms and to convene an FDA panel to “investigate” whether treatment for gender dysphoria and mental illness was behind the skyrocketing increase in mass-shooting incidents.
Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman issued the following statement:
“Donald Trump has blamed everything but the root cause for these preventable tragedies. There is one thing that drives this senseless epidemic–the shameless inaction of the Republican Party that has been bought and paid for by the NRA. To add insult to injury, the City of Dallas and Texas could pay a combined $1 million in tax-payer dollars to host a convention that does not reflect the values of Dallasites. When Trump and his lawless gun-lobby parade around our state, unfortunately, it seems to be innocent citizens and children who ultimately pay the price.”
The result of this blood money has been deadly. May is a particularly difficult month for Texans as we remember the anniversaries of mass shootings in Allen on May 4 and in Uvalde on May 24. Despite majority support for stricter gun safety laws, Donald Trump has said himself that he “did nothing” to strengthen gun violence prevention during his presidency, and, as a result, 164,000 lives were lost to firearms during the 4 years of his presidency with gun fatality rates increasing at a higher rate in Texas compared to the national average.
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The Dallas County Democratic Party is an inclusive, people-powered movement that believes in equal opportunity, fairness, freedom, family, community, and a responsibility to ourselves and each other.