Free Republic

Phoenix has been chosen to host the National Rifle Association's annual convention in 2009, an event expected to attract up to 65,000 people. The city landed the largest convention in its history, mostly due to a $600 million expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center, a new downtown hotel and a long-standing relationship with the NRA. The convention delegates are projected to collectively spend as much as $94.3 million during their stay for rental cars, hotel accommodations and meals. The NRA convention is a key victory for Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and other officials who pushed hard to get public financing...

RACINE - Eddie Eagle - a feathered National Rifle Association cartoon character who teaches children how not to handle guns - could actually be harmful, says an alderman opposed to a Police Department plan to use Eddie in programs for children. The City Council will decide Tuesday whether the Racine Police Department can order hundreds of coloring books from the NRA for no charge and use them in conjunction with lectures the department holds with children. Among other things in the books, children would be coloring in images of guns and of children finding guns in their homes. You can...