PLANTSVILLE, Conn. (WTNH)– There’s a fundraiser for the NRA on the eve of marches around the country pushing for stronger gun laws.
Across the country Saturday, people concerned with gun violence will be marching in the streets, demanding changes to gun laws. But just hours earlier there is a big fundraiser in Plantsville for a group with a very different view on gun laws.
Folks are already preparing “March for our Lives” events here in Connecticut and around the country. Some of them speaking out now, outraged about an event scheduled for Friday night for the Aqua Turf Club, about a half hour drive from Newtown.Related: Connecticut students join push for change on gun violence
It’s a fundraising dinner for “Charter Oak Friends of the NRA.” Tickets have already sold out, so it’s clearly popular with gun rights supporters. The timing is making it very unpopular with others, however.
Some are criticizing the #NRA for holding a fundraiser in Connecticut with this raffle prize just hours before “March for our Lives” events across the country. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/L6Dr8U1TMu
– Kent Pierce (@kentpierce8) March 23, 2018
The director of the Newtown Action Alliance calls the NRA “tone deaf” to the concerns of parents and students for public safety. Those concerns are the reason so many people will be marching Saturday, including one of the Florida shooting survivors who spoke with News 8 Thursday via Skype.Related: An exclusive interview with a student organizer of March For Our Lives
“They should really expect America’s youths standing up, gaining its voice and be able to say, we won’t take this anymore. We don’t want our fellow man to die,” said Ryan Deitsch, shooting survivor.
He is already in Washington DC, where the main “March for our Lives” is being held. There are some 800 other marches being held around the country, including one in Hartford on Saturday starting at 12:30.
Meanwhile, the NRA fundraiser begins at 5:00 Friday night at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville. Activists say their critical posts on the Aqua Turf’s social media pages have been taken down.
They are encouraging local high schools to not book the Aqua Turf for their proms.
