Furious protesters will be out in force today when the National Rifle Association opens a scaled-down convention in massacre-scarred Denver.
The timing of the group’s annual meeting – less than two weeks after the killings at nearby Columbine HS – is under fire from students, lawmakers and gun-control groups.
“When a community is grieving and going through a mourning, when you have more than 65,000 people showing up for services and people are burying these kids, you shouldn’t have a meeting that talks about selling more guns,” Denver Mayor Wellington Webb said.
The NRA cut back its gathering from three days to one “out of respect for the community” but refused to change the date or location.
“It’s a difficult situation for everyone involved in any way,” NRA spokesman Bill Powers said.
Columbine HS juniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 people and themselves April 20 in a bombs-and-bullets attack.
Authorities revealed Harris was under surveillance by a sheriff’s deputy stationed in the school for a year – after a report that he was detonating pipe bombs and making murderous threats on the Internet.
“I’ll just go to some downtown area in some big … city and blow up and shoot everything I can,” the teen ranted in one posting.
Police insisted they did everything they could.
“Our investigators took this to a reasonable conclusion,” Lt. John Kiekbusch said. “They were unable to come up with a crime we could take to the district attorney.”
Detectives believe Harris and Klebold had help with their ambush and they have traced the guns used in the massacre – but no one has been charged.
However, a hardware-store clerk who claimed the teens bought bomb-making material from him was arrested for filing a false report, and a 35-year-old woman was charged with making a bomb threat.
Meanwhile, President Clinton has asked entertainment leaders and gun-rights advocates to come to the White House for a May 10 summit to reduce teen violence.
“Let’s bury the hatchet and build a future for our children together … We should not be fighting about who takes the blame,” Clinton said, adding he’ll also invite Internet leaders, clergy and law-enforcement officials.
Some TV executives say they’ll skip the event because they don’t want to be blamed for the Columbine massacre.
“Enough is enough,” one exec told Electronic Media Daily Fax. “The notion of putting TV executives and gun manufacturers in the same category … is just horrific.”