National Rifle Association

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National Rifle Association
Website	www.nra.org
Legal status	501(c)(4)
Founded	1871, by Colonel William C. Church and General George Wingate
Headquarters	11250 Waples Mill Road Fairfax , Virginia United States

The initials NRA can also refer to the National Recovery Administration, a depression-era government agency.

The National Rifle Association of America, or NRA, is a non-partisan, non-profit American interest group created to “preserve and defend” the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. Founded in 1871 by Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate, both Union veterans of the American Civil War, the group touts itself as America’s oldest civil rights organization.

Often referred to as one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States, the NRA boasts nearly four million members, according to the organization’s website. The NRA trains approximately 750,000 gun owners each year, and promotes firearm safety with its training courses and educational programs.

History

Founding

The National Rifle Association was founded shortly after the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865), but several decades after Samuel Colt opened the first private gun manufacturing facility in 1836. Colt’s company allowed guns to be produced on a large scale, leading to the mainstream use of firearms as practical and recreational devices.

Civil War Gen. Ambrose Burnside, also a U.S. Senator and the former governor of Rhode Island, was the NRA's first president. Burnside was no stranger to small arms, as both the Union and the Confederacy ramped up the production of weapons throughout the early 1860s. The Civil War launched America into a new era in terms of weapons, and the National Rifle Association stepped up to become a leader in the emerging industry .

Early Years

By the end of the nineteenth century, factories were producing weapons at affordable prices, creating widespread individual ownership of guns. The NRA trained many of these new gun owners, often men in the army, with its rifle ranges. At this point in time, the organization was not concerned with public policy; it did very little lobbying, and was more concerned with developing gun safety classes.

The group’s first rifle range, located on Long Island, was paid for by the New York stage legislature. In 1903 Congress set up the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, now known as the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The NRA helped to run this board, and Congress eventually gave surplus guns to NRA-sponsored rifle clubs, allowing the organization to expand westward.

Due to an overwhelming interest in the NRA’s shooting programs, the group expanded by constructing a new facility near Lake Erie, 45 miles east of Toledo, Ohio.

WWII Era

In 1934 the NRA formed its Legislative Affairs Division to take up the cause of defending the Second Amendment. While the NRA was not involved in lobbying at this time, it did mail out legislative facts and summaries to members, who could take subsequent action.

The NRA offered its ranges to the government during World War II, and even encouraged its members to serve as guard members throughout the war. The association developed training materials for industrial security, and helped gather more than 7,000 firearms for Britain’s defense against a possible invasion from Germany.

Post WWII

The tenor of the organization changed after World World II, as the NRA began to accommodate the recreational sportsman, even putting together an Olympic rifle team.

The NRA came out in support of the Gun Control Act of 1968, which forbade selling guns by post. In 1980 the group endorsed a presidential candidate, Ronald Reagan, for the first time.

In 1973 the organization released a new magazine, The American Hunter. To further its protection of gun rights, the NRA eventually formed the Institute for Legislative Action, or ILA, in 1975.

In 1997 the NRA began publication of The American Guardian to appeal to a more mainstream audience and focus less on the technical aspect of firearms. The magazine was renamed America’s 1st Freedom in 2000.

This NRA's current shooting range, Camp Perry, is now the home of the annual National Matches, an NRA marksmanship competition with more than 6,000 people competing each year.

Current objectives and activities

While the National Rifle Association has not strayed from its initial mission of firearms training and education, its interests have expanded to the political arena. Though not a political machine in itself, the NRA is a powerful lobbying group, and often comes out in support of conservative Republican candidates. A 1997 survey by Fortune Magazine named the NRA as the sixth most powerful interest group in America, though some congressmen have been on record as saying it could be the most influential .

Firearms training and owner education

Although the NRA is heavily involved in political lobbying, the organization is still true to its roots by offering a range of safety programs to encourage the responsible use of firearms.

The group offers hunting safety educational courses for adults and children; it reaches youth through its Eddie Eagle program. The program has drawn criticism from groups such as the Violence Policy Center, which has claimed the NRA “misrepresented awards granted to the program by the National Safety Council” and “erroneously claimed endorsement by D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

Confiscation of firearms in disaster situations

Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans law enforcement officers were instructed to de-arm residents before allowing them into evacuation centers (cite khou). The NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation filed for a temporary restraining order on Sept. 23, 2005. The restraining order was fulfilled by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and barred further gun confiscations as well as demanded the return of previously confiscated guns to their lawful owners.

On March 1, 2006 the NRA filed a motion for contempt against then-New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, the Property and Evidence Division of the New Orleans Police Department, and the city itself for failing to comply with the restraining order. The resulting NRA v. Mayor Ray Nagin is pending in the federal court system.

In June of the same year, the NRA came out in support of Act 275, which forbids the confiscation of firearms from lawful citizens in declared states of emergency. The act was signed by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.

Proposition H in San Francisco

In November 2005 the majority of voters in San Francisco approved Proposition H, which, if put into effect, would ban the sale, manufacture and distribution of firearms and ammunition within the city limits, effective Jan. 1, 2006. The act would also ban the possession of handguns, making San Francisco the third major U.S. city to enact such a ban, after Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Within a day after the election, the NRA, in conjunction with other gun advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit challenging the ban. The law, according to the NRA, impeded into territory that should be state-regulated. On June 12, 2006 San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren sided with the NRA. The city later appealed the ruling, but lost.

Political Victory Fund

The NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) serves as the organization’s political action committee. The PVF ranks political candidates, regardless of party affiliation, based on their voting records, public statements and responses to a PVF questionnaire. These grades are then entered into a database, which prospective voters are able to search by zipcode.

Organizational structure

The National Rifle Association is governed by a board of directors, usually numbering about 75. The board is responsible for selecting the president, who acts as the organization’s spokesperson, from among their members.

Among the group’s most notable leaders was actor and activist Charlton Heston, who stepped down in April 2003 after developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The NRA’s sixtieth and current president is Ron Schmeits, who held the position of first vice president before replacing John C. Sigler in May 2009. Sandra Froman held the post from 2005-2007, and Marion P. Hammer, the group’s first female president, served from 1995 to 1998. Both Froman and Hammer currently serve on the board of directors.

The directors are also charged with the task of appointing an executive vice president, currently Wayne LaPierre, Jr., who functions as the chief executive officer. Chris W. Cox holds the position of executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, and Kayne Robinson is the executive director of NRA General Operations.

Achievements

In addition to helping to overturn Proposition H in San Francisco and supporting Act 275 in Louisiana (see above), the NRA can boast a number of political and legislative victories.

The NRA’s Political Victory Fund endorsed several candidates in races in Virginia in November of 2009—Bob McDonnell for governor, Ken Cuccinello for attorney general and Bill Bolling for lieutenant governor. All three candidates won their respective races, as well as 58 out of the 59 candidates in the Virginia House of Delegates who were endorsed by the PVF.

In national congressional races in 2008, 230 of the 271 candidates (85%) endorsed by the PVF were victorious. Additionally, the PVF achieved an 84% success rate in thousands of state legislative races the same year.

Public perception and controversies

In developing this final section, be especially careful about maintaining a neutral stance and tone. Your aim should be to document the public's perception of your group and/or any controversies in which it is or has been embroiled without weighing in with your own opinion about them.