NRA bringing its guns, money back to Louisville for 2022 parley

The National Rifle Association plans to return to Louisville for its annual meeting in 2022, a session expected to attract around 80,000 visitors and pour more than $50 million into the local economy.

The NRA convention is one of the most lucrative pieces of tourism-related businesses, officials say.

The group that strongly supports the Second Amendment and is based in Fairfax, Virginia, has signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to meet in Louisville for a third time in recent years – following conventions in two previous presidential election years, 2008 and 2016.  

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"Louisville is a beautiful city, and last year we had an amazing event that drew a great turnout," Jason Brown, an NRA headquarters spokesman said in a phone interview Monday.

President Donald Trump, then seeking the Republican presidential nomination, generated some brouhaha when he spoke at Freedom Hall during the 2016 NRA convention. Its activities were centered at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

The NRA conventions in presidential election years customarily attract some of the major presidential candidates who are seeking the association's endorsement.  

Brown said that it is too early to speculate on who might appear at the 2022 convention, especially since it will be during an off-year election cycle.

Brown said the memo has been signed with the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau. Bureau CEO Karen Williams and Jason Rittenberry, CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board that oversees the expo center, made a recruitment visit to the NRA headquarters in January.

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Williams and Brown both acknowledged that, at this point, the memo of agreement is non-binding and that the convention's return is considered tentative until a contract is signed.  

But Williams said the return engagement "looks very good." She said the NRA likes Louisville's central location and predicted the contract will be cinched by year's end.

And Brown said, "We are planning to come back to Louisville in 2022."

Brown said that, contractually, the NRA is committed to meet in Dallas in 2018. He said other tentative commitments are to meet in Indianapolis in 2019, in Nashville in 2020, in Houston in 2021 and again in Indianapolis in 2023.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.

From last year's convention:  

Bevin preaches guns, religion at NRA meeting 

Presidential candidate Donald Trump's speech at Louisville NRA meeting