NRA convention puts GOP's gun gamble on full display

Mass shootings in Louisville and Nashville didn't keep the NRA's annual convention from attracting a pack of likely Republican presidential candidates.

Why it matters: The three-day convention, which opened in Indianapolis on Friday, broadcasts the extreme staying power gun politics have with generations of Republican politicians.

What's happening: Conservatives remain relatively unmovable on guns despite a wave of violence that’s terrorized schools, banks and places of worship across the country.

Republican primary hopefuls are gambling that a spike in shootings doesn't push the broader American public to vote against them in the general election.

Yes, but: A Gallup poll before the shootings in Louisville and Nashville showed 63% of Americans are dissatisfied with gun laws.