The last place one might expect to hear pushback against the National Rifle Association would be at a gun show here, a western suburb of Chicago that reliably votes Republican every election cycle and is the proud home of the Billy Graham Center Museum.
But at the DuPage County Fairgrounds on Sunday, a man selling ammunition, DVDs, military books and a few handguns leaned across his table and said that, as a lifelong NRA member, he isn't on board with everything the organization stands for right now.
"I disagree with some of their viewpoints," said Mitchell Flesner, 67. Following the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, last month that left 17 people dead, Flesner said he would like the NRA to support some kind of regulation that forces teenagers - like 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who authorities charged with the killings - to get parental permission before they are allowed to buy AR-15 military-style rifles.
"I would support that," he said. "An outright ban? No."
Yet as legislators in Washington, D.C., and across the country debate the best way to deal with the AR-15 and similar weapons - high-powered rifles that have been used in numerous high-profile mass killings in recent years - the weapon was noticeably absent from the early morning gun show here Sunday. It looked like many other small weekend shows across America: Folding tables covered with handguns, rifles, parts, ammunition and war mementos, including helmets, patches, pistols and even some vintage Nazi memorabilia.
But no AR-15s.
Organizers halted an advertised raffle that would have awarded an AR-15 to the winner, and vendors were told they would not be allowed to sell the weapon at the monthly show.
Frank Cesare - of the Pioneer Valley Sportsman's Association, which has hosted the show for more than 40 years - said the decision followed complaints the group received after the Parkland shooting and as gun-control advocates planned to protest.
"We did the ban to try to calm the situation down and show them we are willing to work with them," he said, referring to the protesters.
Cesare said that the ban on AR-15s also would remain in place for April's show and that the club is "waiting to see" what the mood is like before deciding on shows later in the year. But the move has forced the club into the gun culture war that has gained new energy across the United States since Parkland.
"We didn't see this coming," Cesare said. "I'm bewildered we're in the middle of this. . . . I got no problem with the protesters. They're very frustrated with what's going on; it's awful; they're doing what they think is right. I'm frustrated, too."
Inside the fairground building, vendors and buyers examined used items that have nothing to do with
