Scenes From Inside The NRA Convention In Indianapolis

Over the weekend, photojournalist Joseph Rushmore spent time at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention, documenting the people and events while on assignment for HuffPost. This year’s gathering was in Indianapolis, where Rushmore captured the sights and interviewed some gun owners about why they attended the convention and their thoughts on the Second Amendment. See photos from inside this year’s NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits below:  Joseph Rushmore for HuffPostLeft: The view through a Sensight digital scope mounted on a deactivated rifle on the exhibit hall floor.Right: A man puts on a virtual reality headset at one of several booths that allowed users to enter VR shooting situations.Left: Lorie and Doug Cutts stand for a photo with their daughter, Emily, 15, who is a competitive shooter. When asked why they support the NRA, Emily said, “With the way gun laws are right now, we need to do anything [we] can do to help the shooting sports stay alive.” Her father added, “Every industry has their lobby group, every industry does, pick one, Big Pharma, they’re all lobbying. NRA is kind of our voice, besides our own, the NRA is who represents us. That’s how we look at it, so if we don’t support them, who else is going to?”Right: From left, Kim, Ernie and Anastasia McCool stand with Crayton Mouser, Laura McCool and their children in strollers, Hunter and Ryleigh (not facing camera) Mouser. Kim McCool said of the NRA, “I think it’s for our protection. We have to have guns to protect ourselves and to be able to live off the land. There’s a lot of people who can’t afford a lot of food so they have to have the means to go hunting. [Without the NRA] crimes would go up so much, we wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves.”

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