On November 17, 1871 the National Rifle Association was officially chartered in the state of New York. The founders, Col. William C. Church and Gen. George Wingate, formed the organization to promote marksmanship among the people of the United States as a result of the abysmal shooting abilities shown by the troops under their command during the American Civil War. According to a magazine written by Co. Church, they wanted to “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis,” and to that end they established a shooting range on Long Island named Creedmoor (after the name of the farm they purchased for the range) where the first annual matches (now the National Matches at Camp Perry) were held. Today the NRA is the largest gun rights lobbying group in the United States and claims a membership of 4.3 Million Americans.
I wonder if there will be cake at the NRA Range tonight…
[NRA History via NRA Blog]
Chocolate I hope. Happy B-day.
If not a member please join.
Wow, didn’t realize I shared my birthday with the NRA…that brightened my day. 🙂
Will the NRA celebrate by sabotaging more Supreme Court cases, and avoiding the courts for another 140 years? Or will they use their 140th Birthday as a means to solicit more money and send out more mailings?
Yes.
UK subjects have remarked that if they had an NRA things might be different for gun owners over there. I’m not sure about that but imagine what it would be like without them? While not perfect they at least they attempt to secure 2A rights for all people, even the people who don’t agree with them. That makes them far more inclusive than most organizations.
+1.
The NRA is far from perfect, but without it there wouldn’t be a legal gun to be found in America
+2
… and from the UK, +3. Happy B’day NRA.
Creedmore is now the site of a psychiatric hospital and New York is one of the most inhospitable places to own or shoot firearms. I realize those are non-sequiturs to the post …
… or are they?
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