NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – For weeks the National Rifle Association has been publicizing plans to hold a fundraising dinner at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum where it planned to auction off firearms, even as many country music artists have distanced themselves from the gun rights organization.
But a spokesperson for the museum confirmed to The Associated Press that the April 17 event will not take place at the site after the AP asked questions about the museum’s no firearms policy. The NRA’s relationship with country artists and music organizations has fractured in recent years after several mass shootings, including one at a Las Vegas country music festival in 2017.
On Feb. 28, Kelly McGlumphy, the museum’s director of communications, confirmed to the AP that the museum’s policy prohibits firearms, loaded or unloaded, or other weapons, in the building whether visible or concealed. When asked how the policy affected the NRA’s plans for an auction that included firearms, McGlumphy, said that the museum was talking to the NRA about the auction. Nearly a week later, on Thursday evening, McGlumphy told the AP that “following those discussions, the organization will not be holding their event at the museum.”
“The NRA was asked to change our firearms policy at our auction,” said Amy Hunter, director of media relations for the NRA. “We respectfully declined and made alternate arrangements at a venue with additional capacity. We would like to thank the Country Music Hall of Fame for their consideration.”
The NRA is holding its annual convention this April in downtown Nashville. Touted as one of the premiere events of the convention, the $500-per ticket NRA-ILA dinner and auction at the museum promised “celebrities, industry executives and a host of Second Amendment supporters from around the country.” The Institute for Legislative Action is the NRA’s lobbying arm. Last week, the NRA publicized that auction items would include “engraved firearms, suppressors, knives, fine art, hunts, optics and trips from around the globe.”