Protest Of Mooresville NRA Fundraiser Planned For Thursday

MOORESVILLE, NC — One day after thousands of students participated in a nationwide school walkout while calling for gun reform, protesters are planning to take to the streets in Mooresville to protest a local National Rifle Association fundraiser.

Democratic Women of Iredell County is backing the “March For Our Lives-Iredell” March 15 starting at 5:45 p.m. outside the Charles Mack Citizen Center in downtown Mooresville, the group said.

“PROTEST the Friends of the NRA Dinner” and its Wall of Guns Raffle, the group said on its Facebook page.

Wall of Guns raffles give away items such as firearms, ammunition and outdoor gear, according to the NRA.

The NRA Dinner, sponsored by the Iredell County Friends of NRA, is scheduled to begin at the community center at 6 p.m. Tickets for a table at the event cost $1,000, with proceeds benefiting local, state and national projects, according to the group’s website.

According to Friends of the NRA, the organization held 1,100 such events around the country last year.

SEE ALSO: North Carolina’s Schools Received $546K From NRA

One similar event scheduled in Brooklyn was cancelled recently following political backlash. An April dinner scheduled for a Coney Island restaurant that promised to give away guns as raffle and auction prizes was cancelled in early March following intense push back from the community. “We have worked hard to address gun violence in this neighborhood, and an event like this, particularly after the Parkland tragedy, was simply not in the best interests of our community,” a local councilman told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle following the restaurant’s decision to cancel the long-standing annual event.

According to the Mooresville Tribune, the demonstrators have secured a permit to protest from 5:45 p.m. to 9 p.m., and will be allowed outside the Charles Mack Citizen Center on the sidewalks along Main Street between the venue and Gibson Brothers Furniture Store.

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