National Rifle Association

The National Rifle Association of America is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA continues to teach firearm safety and competency. According to the NRA, it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018, though that figure has not been independently confirmed.

About National Rifle Association in brief

Summary National Rifle AssociationThe National Rifle Association of America is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA continues to teach firearm safety and competency. According to the NRA, it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018, though that figure has not been independently confirmed. Observers and lawmakers see the NRA as one of the three most influential advocacy groups in Washington, D. C. The NRA has been the focus of intense criticism in the aftermath of high-profile shootings, such as the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The organization has influenced legislation, participated in or initiated lawsuits, and endorsed or opposed various candidates at local, state, and federal levels. Some notable lobbying efforts by the NRA-ILA are the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which lessened restrictions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Dickey Amendment, which blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using federal funds to advocate for gun control. The group voted to elect its first corporate officers on November 25, 1871, and was first chartered in the State of New York on November 17, 1872. The US Congress created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in 1901 to include representatives from the NRA and other military services. The board is still in existence today, and is chaired by former President Ulysses S. Grant as its ninth president and General Philip H. Sheridan as its eighth president and eighth president of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action.

It is also known as the “NRA Institute of America” and is based in New York City, New York, and Washington, DC. It was founded in 1871 by Army and Navy Journal editor William Conant Church and Captain George Wood Wingate. In 1873, the Irish Rifle Team issued a challenge through the New York Herald to riflemen of the U.S. to raise a team for a long-range match to determine an Anglo-American championship. Eight American riflemen won the match firing breech-loading rifles. In 1901, the NRA organized a team through a subsidiary amateur rifle club. The NRA’s marksmanship instruction program evolved into the United United States Army’s annual rifle and pistol competitions, which are now open to civilian and military shooters. It has been criticized by gun control and gun right advocacy groups, political commentators, and politicians. The gun rights group was founded by Union Army Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith, was elected president. When Burnside resigned on August 1,1872, William Church succeeded him as president. In August 1872, the group was chartered by New York Legislature funded the construction of a modern range at Creedmoor, Long Island, for long-distance shooting competitions. The range officially opened on June 21, 1873. In November 1873 the NRA created the NRA Institute of Legislative Action, which manages its political action committee, the Political Victory Fund.