DATELINE: HONDO, Texas — The Texas city near where 19 children and two teachers were shot dead in an elementary school classroom has rescinded a deal for a gun group’s fundraising event in a city-owned hall. The Hondo City Council voted 4-1 Monday to rescind the rental agreement for the Friends of the NRA to hold its fundraiser Saturday at the city’s Medina Fair Hall.
The vote came after an angry crowd denounced the event, including a raffle of a semi-automatic rifle similar to one an 18-year-old gunman used in the May 24 shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, 44 miles (70 kilometers) east of Hondo.
Supporters of the local National Rifle Association group asserted that the event helped teach young people how to handle firearms responsibly and that there was no disrespect toward the Robb Elementary dead intended. Others in the crowd Monday condemned the event and its timing.
Medina County Democratic Chairwoman Sandy Young told council members, “At best, the scheduling of this meeting is hopefully an oversight and omission, someone made a mistake. At worst, this is a deliberate disrespect for the grief, sorrow and pain of these families and an attempt to shut them up, put them in their place, saying that their sorrow should not get in the way of our fun.”
