CPAC keeps NRA leader’s name off schedule

Organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are keeping the name of a top National Rifle Association (NRA) executive off its official schedule amid criticism of the group after the death of 17 people in a school shooting in Florida. 

CPAC omitted the name of the NRA and its CEO and executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, from its schedule, released Monday, as a precaution, the Washington Examiner reports. 

The NRA is a major sponsor of the annual event, hosted by the American Conservative Union. LaPierre has regularly appeared at the major conservative gathering over the years, where he has rebuffed calls for increased gun control. 

LaPierre will still speak at this year’s conference, but organizers are unsure if they will give advance notice of his speech ahead of time, according to the Examiner. 

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The NRA, the nation’s top gun lobbying organization, is in the spotlight following the Florida shooting, where a 19-year-old used an assault rifle to massacre students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Critics say the NRA is standing in the way of gun control legislation that could prevent shootings.

The NRA has long been a staunch defender of Second Amendment rights.

CPAC will hold two events centered on gun rights, including a talk on the landmark Heller Supreme Court case that defended the individual right of owning firearms for self-defense.