INDIANAPOLIS — The right to bear arms — it’s the big topic of conversation in the Circle City this weekend.
More than 70,000 people are expected to be in Indianapolis for the NRA convention.
This is the third time Indianapolis has hosted the event, which is expected to bring in more than $36 million.
NRA member Brad West is in town for the convention because he has a passion for sports shooting.
“Trap, competitive pistol, that type of thing," West said. “There’s a place for having safeguards before someone buys a gun, but don’t try to take it away.”
Brad and Joan Muntz also traveled to Indiana from Ohio.
The couple is also supporters of the second amendment.
“I grew up hunting with my dad. It’s a rural community. It’s just the thing you did and continue to do," Muntz said.
The convention comes at a time when mass shootings and gun violence across the U.S. are becoming more prevalent.
The couple sympathizes with those who’ve lost loved ones, but says people are to blame, not the guns.
“These shootings are terrible. I don’t know what needs to be done," Muntz said. “Not sure that it’s guns, more than people who really shouldn’t be walking the streets.”
Outside the convention center, anti-gun activists think the opposite.
“My issue with the second amendment is that it is an 18th century law, which is governing 21st century weapons," Chicagoan Hope Blair said.
Blair thinks easy access to these weapons is the reason so many innocent lives are lost in our country.
“I think weapons should be treated, or a weapon owner, should be treated like a person who has a driver’s license. You have to periodically make sure that person is competent enough to drive a car. Why not the same with weapons," Blair said.
Dr. David Lehman also wants to see stricter gun laws.
“I think people ought to have a certain amount of gun safety training. I think they ought to be able to pass a background check if they’re assumed to be a threat to a family member. The red flags ought to go up and those people should not have access to guns," Dr. Lehman said.
He lives in Denver, but came to the Hoosier state Friday to provide the public with his expertise.
“This was an opportunity to do a little medical education of the public," Dr. Lehman said. "I’ve diagnosed them to have the blood children on their hands.”
