After a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers at a Texas school this week, former President Donald Trump said that the United States should make it easier to jail "deranged" individuals and eliminate gun-free school zones.

In a speech at the Houston convention of the National Rifle Association, a gun-rights advocacy group, Mr. Trump stated, "Clearly, we need to make it far easier to confine the violent and mentally deranged into mental institutions,"

The killing of 19 students and two instructors on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas, by an 18-year-old armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle refocused attention on the National Rifle Association, a significant donor to Congress members, primarily Republicans.

The shooter claimed that he bought the high-powered firearms on social media as soon as he was 18 years old.

Houston lies roughly 450 kilometers west of Uvalde.

It was anticipated that the shooting would reduce turnout at the NRA's first gathering in three years.

Mr. Trump stated that each school should have a single point of access, sturdy fence, and metal detectors and that a police officer or armed guard should be there at all times.

The former president of the United States also advocated for the abolition of gun-free school zones, stating that such zones left victims defenseless in an armed attack.

"The existence of evil in our world is not a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens who know how to use their weapon and can protect a lot of people," he stated.

"The existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens."

As Mr. Trump echoed speakers who opposed background checks and semiautomatic firearm bans, the audience applauded.

"The numerous gun restriction plans advocated by the left would not have prevented the tragedy. Zero, absolutely nothing "Mr. Trump said.

Since Columbine, we have been beset with an epidemic of school shootings perpetrated by extremely nasty, violent, and psychologically unstable young men.

Protesters demand stricter gun control.

Outside the gun lobby's convention, protesters holding posters and crosses with photographs of victims from this week's school tragedy converged.

Approximately 500 protestors jeered as thousands of NRA members crowded the conference center, with some yelling "NRA, go away," and "Shame, it could be your kids today."

Melinda Hamilton, 60, the founder of Mothers of Murdered Angels in Fort Worth, Texas, who lost her daughter and grandson to gun violence, held a vigil across the street from the convention in a park.

"It doesn't make any sense that an 18-year-old can buy a gun," she remarked, referring to the ages of the supermarket shooters in Uvalde and Buffalo, New York.

Johnny Mata, a Houston activist, demanded that the NRA halt the conference and organize a mourning ceremony for the victims.

Mr. Mata, speaking on behalf of the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, stated, "They have the audacity not to cancel in respect of these families,"

He stated that the NRA should "quit being a part of the assassination of children in American schools."

The NRA's decision to proceed with its most significant annual gathering is part of a decades-long strategy to resist gun reform efforts, which extends back to the Columbine High School shooting in 1999.

Since then, there have been scores of school shootings, but the NRA's position has not changed.

"Laws cannot stop evil psychopaths."

Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem urged convention participants to continue their fight against gun control.

A Republican from Texas, Senator Ted Cruz, emphasized that altering gun laws or restricting access to firearms further was not the solution.

"We must not react to evil and tragedy by abandoning the Constitution or infringing on the rights of our law-abiding citizens," he stated.

Two other Republican speakers, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, and the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, declined to speak in person.

Mr. Abbott stated in a prerecorded video, "As Texans, and as Americans, we grieve and mourn with these families."

However, he stated that regulations did not prevent the Uvalde shooter and rebuffed calls for additional regulation, saying that "laws will not stop evil madmen from committing these atrocities."

On the convention center's exhibition floor, guests could handle rifles, handguns, hunting, and assault weapons at dozens of booths and peruse Sierra Bullets' and other companies' ammo displays.

After the mass shooting at the Uvalde primary school, a decision was made prohibiting guests from bringing firearms inside the event.

Some walked the floor wearing red Trump 2024 hats and cowboy hats. One man in line for his badge joked that he was a lifelong NRA member and wondered if "afterlife" memberships were available so he could remain a member forever.

Tim Hickey, a veteran of the Marine Corps who attended the ceremony, disregarded the protests.

"These individuals are media puppets and sheep. They are not convincing anyone, "he remarked.