Anyone wondering how a newly formed local coalition opposed to gun violence feels about the National Rifle Association holding its annual convention in Pittsburgh next month need only look at the name of the organization's Web site: GoodByeNRA.org.

Yesterday, the Confluence Against Gun Violence fired the first volley in what likely will be a battle of ideological banter with the NRA when it held a news conference in Shadyside and characterized the NRA as a violent, militaristic, racist, sexist and homophobic organization.

"Pittsburgh says 'No' to the NRA and the NRA leadership and its racism and hatred and policies of violence," said Nathaniel Glosser, president of the Rosenberg Institute for Peace & Justice.

Not surprisingly, Andrew Arulanandam, the NRA public affairs director, denied such charges.

"Certainly there are groups that are behemoth and shrill in their opposition to the NRA and certainly this is a mischaracterization of the NRA," he said from Fairfax. Va.

Glosser took umbrage that the NRA's 133rd annual meetings and exhibits, to be held April 16-18 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown, are being publicized on billboards locally as "four acres of guns and gear."

"A large segment of the community is not happy about that," he said.

"Most NRA members are wonderful people who support responsible handling of guns," said Kenny Steinberg, president of Pennsylvanians Against Handgun Violence. "The NRA leadership for some reason is opposed to laws [requiring guns to be unloaded and locked] and any reasonable legislation."

Also, speaking against the NRA were Hill Jordan of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Rev. Greg Swiderski of the Association of Pittsburgh Priests and, as a private citizen, Dr. Edward Mulvey, a professor of psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

Other groups in the coalition include the Thomas Merton Center, the Allegheny County Million Mom March and Pittsburgh Stand for Children Organizing Group.

The speakers said the recent revelation that a 9-year-old boy armed with his mother's gun accidentally killed postal carrier Clayton J. Smith at the Crafton-Ingram Shopping Center in June was a tragic example of why legislation is needed to require adults to be responsible gun owners.

Glosser said the group plans counter-activities but has no plans to try to disrupt the NRA sessions. A teach-in will be held April 15 at the William Pitt Union at the University of Pittsburgh; a candlelight vigil to remember victims of gun violence will be held the evening of April 16 outside the convention center; and a rally and concert will be held there April 17.

The NRA gathering is shaping up to be the largest ever, Arulanandam said, with more than 55,000 people already registered. Usually, at this point in the registration process that number would be close to but less than 50,000, he said.

This year's keynote speaker for the member's banquet has not been announced, but there is speculation that it will be either President George W. Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney. Arulanandam said he could not confirm whether either man would be attending.