National Rifle Association

National Rifle Association (NRA), nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the legal use of firearms and protecting the right of United States citizens to keep and bear arms. In addition to sponsoring numerous education and training programs for gun owners, the NRA campaigns and lobbies the Congress of the United States to oppose gun control legislation.

The NRA was founded in 1871 by a group of former Union army officers who were disappointed with the shooting skills of the men they had commanded during the Civil War. The organization's initial efforts focused on marksmanship training. Today the NRA sponsors gun safety programs, personal protection training, shooting competitions, hunter education, wildlife conservation research, shooting range development, and law enforcement support. Thirty thousand NRA-certified gun safety instructors train more than one million people a year. The NRA's “Eddie Eagle” gun safety program develops educational materials for preschool and elementary students with the goal of reducing the number of accidental shootings by children. The organization's CrimeStrike program works to reduce crime and supports harsher penalties for people who use firearms to commit a crime.

During the 1960s the role of the NRA began to change from one of promoting shooting skills to one of protecting the right to keep and bear arms. The assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., convinced many Americans that tighter controls on firearms were necessary. A group of influential NRA members urged the organization to increase its political activities to defeat proposed gun control laws. Two NRA affiliates have become influential proponents of the right to own weapons. The Institute for Legislative Action, the NRA's lobbying arm, advises lawmakers and builds public support for the rights of gun owners through advertising and direct-mail campaigns. The NRA's Political Victory Fund is a political action committee that raises money to support political candidates who endorse the organization's objectives. Because of its great financial resources and ability to mobilize its membership, the NRA has become one of the most effective single-issue interest groups in the United States.

The NRA has strongly opposed government regulation of small arms. Groups such as Handgun Control, Inc., and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence have advocated restrictions on some types of firearms, citing the high number of gun-related deaths in the United States. The NRA objects to any restrictions on gun ownership, arguing that most people use guns in a lawful fashion and that private ownership of weapons is essential for personal safety. The organization's opposition to the Brady Bill, a federal handgun law first proposed in 1985, helped to delay its passage for seven years. Congress finally passed the bill in 1993 and it went into effect in 1994. The NRA also unsuccessfully opposed a 1994 crime bill because it included a ban on the importation of semiautomatic “assault” weapons. The NRA has lobbied vigorously for the passage of state laws allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons.

To counteract a significant decline in membership and contributions in the early 1990s, the NRA launched a controversial membership drive that exploited fears about federal restrictions on gun ownership. The drive was successful in recruiting new members. However, it also contributed to the loss of some members who supported the NRA's traditional sport and safety programs but did not accept the organization's unbending opposition to gun control legislation. Among those resigning from membership in the NRA was former U.S. President George Bush, who took offense at the characterization of federal law enforcement agents as “jackbooted thugs” in an NRA fund-raising letter.

The NRA bases its position on the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” The NRA argues that this amendment confers upon individual citizens the right to possess firearms without government interference or regulation. However, no federal court has ever ruled that this language confers any rights not subject to reasonable regulation.

The NRA has a membership of about 3.5 million with an annual budget of approximately $80 million. In 1993 the group moved its headquarters from Washington D.C. to Fairfax, Virginia. The organization is governed by a 76-member board of directors and has organized units in every state. The NRA publishes a number of magazines for gun enthusiasts: American Hunter,American Rifleman, and InSights.