Highlights from the History of the NRA
By Pat Hutchins
Photos courtesy of NRA Archives

You’ve grown up with the National Rifle Association as a part of your life, promoting the shooting sports and our Second Amendment freedoms. The same goes for your parents, and their parents before them. But there was a time when there was no NRA. Have you ever wondered how the NRA got its start? The NRA’s story is part of our nation’s history, and it all began more than 130 years ago, not long after the American Civil War, with a man named William C. Church.

Church, a Civil War veteran, was the publisher of the Army and Navy Journal, an influential newspaper about military affairs. In 1870 and 1871, he published a series of editorials about the need for better marksmanship to help support America’s defense. Along with other former Army officers, he was concerned about a lack of preparation in rifle training among the young men who formed the state militias that made up our National Guard. In 1871 Church and a group of New York National Guard officers met to form an organization to respond to these problems. In November of that year the National Rifle Association was incorporated in the state of New York “to promote rifle practice…and to promote the introduction of a system of aiming drill and target firing among the National Guard of New York and the militia of other states.”

The organization grew quickly, and the following year established its first range, Creedmoor, in New York, where the NRA’s first full-scale Annual Matches were held in October 1873. These events were so popular that other states clamored to join the NRA’s program, and the military began to look into improving its own rifle-training practices. In 1874, the NRA sponsored an American rifle team in our country’s first international match. Many American team successes over the years in these international matches contributed to making shooting a popular spectator sport for a wide range of people. In 1876, the centennial of American independence, the words “of America” were added to the association’s name to emphasize its national reach and character.

Many popular Civil War generals were among the association’s early presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, the only American president to also serve as head of the NRA. The generals helped bring prominence and attention to the organization, which had begun to experience troubled times in the 1880s. Economic recession in the United States and lack of continued support from New York cut deeply into the NRA’s shooting programs. By 1892, lacking support from New York, the NRA transferred its Annual Matches from Creedmoor to the new Sea Girt range in New Jersey. On the bright side, though, by this time nearly every state in the country had its own rifle association organized under the rules established by the NRA.

By 1903 things were looking up for the association. The War Department (the predecessor of our modern Department of Defense) created a National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) to encourage the improvement of military and civilian marksmanship. The NBPRP’s objectives provided a boost for the NRA’s programs. This, and additional new laws during Teddy Roosevelt’s administration, gave federal government support to the NRA’s goals and enabled the organization to expand its services and interests.

This expansion included working with civilians and the nation’s youth. In the first steps toward a long-term NRA agenda, the association adopted a resolution in 1903 urging closer work with schools to encourage rifle practice by the establishment of rifle clubs. In 1907 further expansion to the school program saw the development of qualifications for both indoor and outdoor rifle matches and the appropriation of funds for badges for qualifying youngsters. Also in 1907, the NRA and the NBPRP began holding their Annual Matches at Camp Perry in Ohio, where the NRA’s National Matches are held to this day.



By 1916, with the First World War raging in Europe, and the possibility of American involvement looming, Congress passed the National Defense Act to promote civilian marksmanship. The NRA was named as the liaison between the Army and the civilian reserve. In this same year the NRA bought its first official publication, Arms and the Man, which became the familiar American Rifleman in 1923. In 1917 America entered the war, and the NRA opened all of its ranges to recruits to aid in their training. The association also worked with Congress to form a Small Arms Firing School, which opened in 1918.

The conclusion of the war and the arrival of the 1920s saw a great increase in NRA activities, from the association’s championing of .22 caliber matches to the formation of a Police Division, in 1927, to reflect its growing emphasis on police training programs. American Rifleman began to go out to all members at this time, expanding the audience for the association’s information on shooting, hunting equipment, ballistics and more. During this time, American teams continued to dominate international matches.

By the 1930s, the affects of the Great Depression began to take their toll on the NRA. Lean federal budgets had no room for appropriations for the National Matches. Smallbore shooting, on the other hand, saw an upsurge, as .22 ammunition was much less expensive to shoot. Many new clubs with an interest in .22 shooting became affiliated with the NRA at this time, including many Boy Scout troops and boy’s clubs. The success of these smallbore programs led the NRA to start an outdoor pistol league in 1933.

It was at this time the NRA became involved in efforts to prevent proposed major infringements on Second Amendment rights. Pacifist groups rising from the war years pushed for abolition of all firearms, and, under their influence, this movement began to gain momentum in state legislatures and Congress. The NRA reported on pending legislation through American Rifleman, but this method was proving inadequate to deliver information in a timely fashion.

1934 saw the creation, therefore, of an NRA Legislative Division to monitor legislation. Testimony and input from NRA members and officers was influential in the final product passed by Congress in 1934, the National Firearms Act, which imposed taxes and registration on fully automatic firearms, short-barreled shotguns and silencers. Shortly after this, the NRA helped defeat California’s Alco Bill, which proposed to outlaw all concealable firearms. In 1938 the Federal Firearms Act was passed, which imposed heavy penalties for the criminal misuse of firearms. Though it had opposed the Alco Bill, the NRA did support certain provisions of the new Firearms Act.

In 1940, as World War II surged through Europe, NRA members sent thousands of weapons to embattled Britain to aid in its defense. When America entered the war in 1941, the NRA developed a pre-induction smallbore service course, produced small-arms marksmanship training films, opened its ranges to the federal government and formed a training program for the Home Guard. Throughout the war, the NRA published training manuals on everything from pistol shooting to handloading for plant guards. By the time of the war’s end, in 1945, NRA members had taught 1.75 million students the correct use of small arms. U.S. President Harry Truman sent a letter praising the NRA, saying, “…During the war just ended, the contributions of the association…—all contributed freely and without expense to the Government—have materially aided our war effort.”

The NRA experienced tremendous growth in the postwar years. By 1947, membership figures grew almost three times from their 1945 total, to more than 250,000. With shooting and hunting more popular than ever, the NRA started its hunter safety program in 1949 in New York, which greatly reduced the number of hunting accidents.

The next two decades saw continued expansion of NRA programs and a move away from a concentration on marksmanship to involvement in all aspects of the shooting sports. In 1960 the association began certifying police firearms instructors and started working with wildlife conservation organizations. A home firearms safety course, designed to educate people on how to avoid unsafe conditions related to keeping firearms in the home, was launched by the NRA in 1963. As the 1960s wore on, however, the NRA found itself more and more involved in combating efforts to infringe on Second Amendment rights through legislation.

By the late 1960s the NRA, which still considered itself a gun club, was being portrayed by some in the media and government as a “gun lobby.” With the backing of President Lyndon Johnson’s administration, the U.S. Congress passed the Gun Control Act of 1968, which placed numerous limits on the sale and possession of handguns. Though this was a dark time for the NRA and its concern for gun owners’ rights, the association’s membership reached the 1 million mark, indicating a concern among many citizens for their Second Amendment freedoms.

The need to resist the pressure from growing anti-gun legislation prompted a change in the association itself in 1975, when the NRA’s Board of Directors formed the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA). And at the 1977 Annual Meeting, association members demanding changes in the bylaws and a new focus on protecting Second Amendment rights sent a clear message.

The start of the 1980s saw these efforts begin to pay off. A concerted NRA education campaign in California helped defeat, by a great margin, a referendum that would have stopped handgun sales and initiated gun registration. In 1986 the NRA worked with the congressional sponsors of the Firearms Owners Protection Act—legislation intended to restore lost Second Amendment rights—to ensure its passage.

The NRA has not rested since that time, of course, nor has its attention been focused solely on lobbying. In 1988 the association debuted its award-winning Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program for children. The NRA moved its headquarters, in 1994, from Washington, DC, to a new complex in Fairfax, VA, which features a state-of-the-art range and the National Firearms Museum. And NRA-sponsored hunter and firearm safety programs are found nationwide, and shooting competitions, including the yearly Camp Perry National Matches, continue in their popularity.

The NRA has come a long way in its 131 years. From a relatively small group with a focus on marksmanship, the NRA has grown to more than 4.3 million members with a nationwide presence. Through the ILA, the association continues to champion our Second Amendment rights. But some things have never changed, even after all these years—the NRA’s commitment to the improvement, safety and preservation of the shooting sports.

Some NRA Youth Programs Through the Years

The NRA’s concern with youth shooting programs is an important part of the association’s mission, and goes back to the beginning of the 20th century. The NRA has been involved with many such activities over the years since it began its own youth program in 1903. Among them was an early participation in Boy Scout programs. A marksmanship badge had been available through the Boy Scouts since their founding in America, and the 1911

Boy Scout Handbook made qualification in the NRA junior marksmanship program a prerequisite to obtaining the marksmanship merit badge.

Another youth-oriented shooting program was the Winchester Junior Rifle Corps. This organization of school-age shooters was started in 1917 by Winchester as a promotional program, with qualification courses through which participants advanced as their skills improved. It was very successful, but it overlapped existing NRA youth programs, and when the association took over management of the corps in 1926 it combined the best features of both. By this time more than 135,000 boys and girls had been qualified through it.

In 1978 the NRA formed the Education and Training Division, whose efforts included training and certifying coaches to help lead competitive shooting courses, especially for juniors. The NRA also partnered with 4-H clubs on a national level in the late 1970s, teaching youths everything from safety awareness and basic marksmanship to hunting skills and sportsmanship.

In 1985 the number of junior members in the NRA reached what was then a historic high, at more than 50,000. By this time the association was offering a wide range of shooting opportunities for youth that continue to this day. These included the program known today as the Youth Hunter Education Challenge, which helped to advance specific hunting skills such as orienteering and marksmanship. Work continued with the 4-H and Boy Scout programs and the NRA Junior Olympic Shooting Championship.

And last but not least, let us remember the start of a new NRA publication devoted to its junior members in 1981. Called Junior News, it was soon renamed InSights, and developed over the last 20 years into the magazine you hold in your hand, with 30,000 copies going out each month. You didn’t think we could resist the chance to toot our own horn, did you?

All of the material and illustrations here can be found in much greater depth in the book NRA: An American Legend, by Jeffrey L. Rodengen, published in 2002 by Write Stuff Enterprises. Its 300 lavishly-illustrated pages contain a detailed history of the association, and it was the primary source used in the preparation of this article. Copies of NRA: An American Legend are available from NRA Sales, Dept. IS, P.O. Box 5000, Kearneysville, WV 25430-5000; (800) 336-7402 or www.store.nrahq.org. The item number for the book is PB01871. The cost is $39.95 each plus $4.95 shipping.