Rolling Stone: “Far from the crowded showroom floor, the NRA’s “Ring of Freedom” members get down to the gun lobby’s real business…But at its annual meeting in Houston, the NRA hosted a high-end shadow convention for its own elite members and backers — many of them executives of gun manufacturers and sellers. These “Ring of Freedom” events underscore how the NRA has transformed itself from a pro-second amendment organization, focused on the liberty interests of its members, into a front group for gun industry itself…The NRA welcomes such well-heeled members into its Ring of Freedom if they pony up at least a thousand dollars a year. These individuals get to rub elbows with the gun lobby’s mega-donors, who give more than $1 million lifetime, and are inaugurated into the “Golden Ring of Freedom.” These folks, mainly firearm industry CEOs, are bestowed gold blazers, which mark them in the convention hall as VVIPs…A schedule obtained by Rolling Stone indicates these NRA bigwigs began to celebrate, on Thursday, just two days after the Uvalde massacre, with a morning clay pigeon shoot, and an “NRA Ring of Freedom Corporate Partners’ Luncheon.” (The attendees weren’t disclosed but the NRA lists among its “Top Ten Industry Allies” the likes of Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Taurus, and Glock.)..”