McCain, others to be in Louisville for NRA event

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John McCain is slated to speak at the National Rifle Associations' May 16 annual meeting in Louisville, an NRA official confirmed to the Herald-Leader.

McCain is expected to participate with a panel of big-name political figures at the NRA's Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum on the first day of the pro-gun organization's annual meetings and exhibits from May 16 to May 18 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in downtown Louisville.

Others slated to speak at that forum, according to the NRA's Web site, include:

• former GOP presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, the past governor of Arkansas and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor
• former White House political director Karl Rove
• Republican U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas
• Republican U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, who is up for re-election this year in Kentucky
• Oliver North, conservative pundit and the former U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel who was a central figure in the Iran Contra scandal
• Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear

McCain is not listed on the site, but NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told the Herald-Leader that the Arizona Senator "is scheduled to speak."

The reservation-only forum is sold out, according to the NRA.

"It's basically a forum for folks who believe in the 2nd Amendment and believe that we need to work hard to preserve the freedom for future generations to come and talk to like-minded folks," said Arulanandam.

This is the second time the NRA has held such a forum at one of its major national meetings. Last September's forum attracted all the major presidential candidates except Romney, who had a scheduling conflict and sent a video message in his stead.

McCain will make the appearance in Kentucky the Friday before the state's voters head to the polls for the May 20 primary. While McCain, who has already locked up enough GOP delegates for the nomination, isn't engaged in a competitive primary race, the Democratic candidates, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New  York are expected to spend plenty of time in the state over the next two weeks.

Obama and Clinton weren't invited to this NRA event, Arulanandam said. "They have had very long records of voting against the rights of law abiding Americans and voting against hunters," he said.

Clinton voted the opposite of the NRA on four key bills between 2004 and 2006 and th NRA assigned her a grade of "F" in 2006. Obama sided with the NRA on the Firearm Confiscation Prevention Act in 2006, which prevented federal funds to be used to capture weapons of citizens during a national emergency, but voted against the NRA's position on two other bills.

The NRA assigned McCain a "C+" lifetime grade in 2004 for his voting record on gun issues, according to a summary from Votesmart.org.

- Ryan Alessi