A Long Island inn that’s hosting an NRA fundraiser has drawn the ire of locals who want the facility to cancel the gathering.
The Nassau County Friends of NRA plans to hold its annual “banquet fundraiser” at The Inn at New Hyde Park, in New Hyde Park, on Sept. 27, according to its Facebook page.
A number of residents who live near the inn, however, have called on the venue to cancel the banquet.
The event, which will feature gun auctions and raffles, has been touted as a dinner for “champions of the Second Amendment.”
“My 7-year-old has to do active shooter drills. That’s not something that we had to deal with when we were children and I think that’s due in large part to the NRA and its policies,” resident Marc Stein told NBC 4 New York.
“We’re using our First Amendment rights to try to stop them, and to bring financial pressure on them and the venue so that this won’t go through," he said.
The inn’s general manager, Cynthia Pesce Oswald, told News 4 the venue has received hundreds of calls and emails, some of which have supported the event and some of which have opposed it.
“We are renting the space and providing food to the organization,” she said. “We are not in support of Friends of the NRA nor the NRA. We don’t side, we don’t have an opinion on this.”
News 4 has reached out to Nassau County Friends of NRA for comment.