Live updates: Speakers at NRA convention resist calls for gun restrictions

The National Rifle Association's annual convention begins Friday morning in Houston, three days after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde.

Former President Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and several other politicians are scheduled to speak during the meeting.

The NRA, a powerful advocacy group that spends lavishly on Republican candidates and rates politicians based on their voting records on gun rights issues, released a statement Wednesday saying the convention would go on as scheduled, but it remains unclear whether all of the officials originally scheduled to speak still plan to attend the event.

More: Live updates Friday: First Uvalde school shooting survivor released from hospital

Trump confirmed earlier this week that he would be speaking at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Friday. The Secret Service said firearms, firearm accessories or knives will not be permitted in the room during his remarks.

Abbott's office announced Thursday evening that he changed his plans to attend the NRA conference in person and would go to Uvalde instead. But he'll still speak at the conference via a pre-recorded video, said his spokeswoman Renae Eze.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, were both scheduled to speak at the convention on Friday, but they are no longer attending due to unrelated scheduling conflicts.

At least two musicians scheduled to perform at the convention withdrew from the event after the shooting, including Don McLean and Larry Gatlin.

Follow along for live updates from the convention. This story will be updated throughout the day.

Donald Trump calls for hardening school security at NRA convention

Former President Donald Trump on Friday defended the need for gun rights during his remarks at the NRA convention, arguing in favor of hardening security at schools to thwart future shooting attempts.

Trump called for expanding funding for police training and recruitment and said every school should have a police officer or an armed resource officer on duty at all times.

"This is not a matter of money," Trump said. "This is a matter of will. The United States has $40 billion to send to Ukraine. We should be able to do whatever it takes to keep our children safe."

Early in his remarks, Trump read the names of each victim of the shooting and an electronic bell sounded after each one.

"I want to ask for a brief moment of silence as I read the names of these beautiful people, all young, wonderful lives ahead of them and their brave teachers whose lives were destroyed by an out of control lunatic," he said.

Ted Cruz warns that 'elites' will use massacre to restrict gun rights

Every Texas politician scheduled to speak at the convention on Friday canceled their in-person appearances except for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who told attendees that the school shooting in Uvalde is “an evil that has happened too many damn times.”

“Many would still tell us that the evil on display in Uvalde or Buffalo derives from the presence of guns in the hands of ordinary American citizens,” Cruz said. “It’s easier to slander one’s political adversaries and to demand that responsible citizens forfeit their constitutional rights than it is to examine the cultural sickness giving birth to unspeakable acts of evil.”

Cruz said the people who say firearms are the root of the problem are the so-called liberal "elites" who can afford such "an indulgent ideology that ignores reality."

Taking guns away from these responsible Americans will not make them safer, nor will it make our nation more secure," he said to applause. "Gun bans do not work."

In remarks to NRA, Gov. Greg Abbott says gun restrictions don’t stop mass shootings

In pre-recorded remarks that played at Friday’s convention, Gov. Greg Abbott repeated his assertion that gun regulations do little to prevent mass shooting events.

“There are thousands of laws on the books across the country that limit the owning or using of firearms, laws that have not stopped madmen from carrying out evil acts on innocent people in peaceful communities,” Abbott said.

He noted that the shooter in Uvalde “committed a felony under Texas law before he even pulled the trigger” by possessing a firearm on school property.

“But that did not stop him,” Abbott said.

His remarks were similar to those he shared in Uvalde on Wednesday. He offered prayers to the community in Uvalde and applauded those who acted to help save students during the attack, today focusing on the role of teachers instead of law enforcement officers.

"These men and women are heroes for their fearless defense of the children in their charge,” he said.

Beto O'Rourke says he has no regrets about storming Abbott news conference

After his speech to demonstrators, Democrat Beto O’Rourke retreated to a private room inside the sprawling Discover Green Park that neighbors the convention center where he met with invited visitors for about a half hour. He emerged to chat with reporters, many of whom walked with his traveling staff for a half-mile walk to the commercial lot where his vehicle was parked.

He was soon joined by about two dozen supporters who stopped him to pose for a photo, and one heckler who sought to shout down his conversations.

“How does it feel to be exploiting dead kids, Beto,” the heckler shouted before being surrounded by the sign-carrying supporters and kept away from the candidate. Two uniformed Houston police officers who were accompanying O’Rourke moved closer, but did not attempt to prevent the heckler from speaking or interfere with the supporters who surrounded the man.

Asked by a reporter if he had any regrets about confronting Abbott at a news conference in Uvalde the day after the killings, O’Rourke said, “None.”

He also said he did not fear for his own safety as the emotion-charged gun issue again dominated news in Texas and across the nation.

“There’s risks no matter what we do,” O’Rourke said. “I’d much rather bear the cost right up front.”

O’Rourke to NRA: 'Join us now or be left behind'

In an impassioned call to action against gun violence, Democrat Beto O’Rourke said “the time for us to stop the next mass shooting in this country is right now, right here today with every single one of us.”

“We are counting on each other. Our kids are counting on us,” O'Rourke said, speaking from the stage at a protest at Discovery Green park in Houston. “Our descendants are looking back on this moment from the future to see if we are going to stand and fight for them or leave them to be slaughtered. We cannot be found wanting.”

O’Rourke also made a direct appeal to NRA leaders and supporters:

“To those who are attending the NRA convention across the street: You are not our enemies, we are not yours. We extend our hand, open and unarmed, as a gesture of peace and fellowship, to welcome you to join us to make sure that this no longer happens in this country. But the time for you to respond and join us is now. We cannot wait any longer for you. Those who will be the victims of the next mass shooting, unless we act, are counting on us at this moment. Please join us now, or be left behind.

“To the leadership of the NRA and to those politicians that you have purchased, to those men and women in positions of power who care more about your power than using that power to save the lives of those you are supposed to serve, if you have done anything good it is the fact that you have brought us here together and that we are committing ourselves to act. We will defeat you and we will overcome you and we will leave you behind.”

More: 'This is on you.' Beto confronts Abbott, Cruz at Uvalde school shooting press conference

At protest, Sheila Jackson Lee says NRA should ‘cancel itself’

Addressing protesters gathered outside the convention, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, called on the NRA and President Donald Trump to “cancel” themselves instead of proceeding with their planned convention.

“What I’m asking for the NRA to do is cancel itself,” she said from the stage. “Cancel yourself right now.”

Jackson Lee spoke from a stage at Houston’s Discovery Green park during a protest organized by Moms Demand Action, March for our Lives, Texas-American Federation of Teachers and other advocacy groups.

As she spoke, she was surrounded by speakers and protesters, including children holding anti-gun violence signs.

“I want you to look at these babies and I want you to be reminded of those in Uvalde,” Jackson Lee said to the crowd. “I want you to look at these babies and know they love teddy bears, they love legos, they love hugs and they love good food. Do you know what they have now? Body bags.”

She finished her remarks with a pledge to pursue congressional action in response to the shooting in Uvalde, adding, "No more shame in America.”

At that, the crowd broke into chants, repeating: "No more shame!"

U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Houston, also addressed the crowd, although he was not preset at the event. An organizer held a cell phone up to a microphone while he spoke.

“I need for you to let those people across the street know that we understand that they are not here to help us end this plague of violence that has come across our land," Green said. "I need for you to help me let them know that they do not understand us and they are not apart of us."

"When I say NRA, I want you to say go away," he said, before chanting with the crowd.

Other speakers at the event included Democrat Rochelle Garza, who is challenging Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and event organizers.

Protesters gather outside NRA convention in Houston 

As attendees made their way inside the convention center, hundreds of anti-gun violence protesters gathered in the hot Texas sun waving signs, including those that read: “Protect kids, not guns” and “Ban assault rifles now.”

Kim Thundyil and her husband Matt were among the protesters gathered Friday morning, and Kim said they were there to call on leaders to start taking the issue of gun violence seriously.

“Enough is enough,” Kim said. “They have bastardized the second amendment enough.”

Ken Fountain, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm, said he was there to call for better firearm regulations.

“There’s a lot of assumptions that people who are in the military or who are patriotic also have to believe that there should be unfettered access to the most heinous weapons there are,” Fountain said. “I don’t believe that and many veterans don’t.”

Dan Patrick cancels NRA convention appearance 

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Friday morning said he has decided not to speak at the NRA convention, after "prayerful consideration and discussion with NRA officials."

Patrick, a Republican, was scheduled to speak at a Friday breakfast gathering.

"While a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and an NRA member, I would not want my appearance today to bring any additional pain or grief to the families and all those suffering in Uvalde," he said in a statement. "This is a time to focus on the families, first and foremost."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Live updates: NRA convention in Houston following Uvalde shooting