Gun safety is the study and practice of managing risk when using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms, airguns and ammunition in order to avoid injury, illness or death.
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while continuing to teach firearm safety and competency. The organization also publishes several magazines and sponsors competitive marksmanship events. According to the NRA, it had nearly 5 million members as of December 2018, though that figure has not been independently confirmed.
In the United States, assault weapon is a controversial term applied to different kinds of firearms. There is no clear, consistent definition. It can include semi-automatic firearms with a detachable magazine, a pistol grip, and sometimes other features, such as a vertical forward grip, flash suppressor, or barrel shroud. Certain firearms are specified by name in some laws that restrict assault weapons. When the now-defunct Federal Assault Weapons Ban was passed in 1994, the U.S. Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use." The commonly used definitions of assault weapons are under frequent debate, and have changed over time.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a gun rights organization in the United States. It makes efforts to differentiate itself from the larger National Rifle Association (NRA) and has publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for what it considers to be compromising on gun rights.
Springfield Armory, Inc., is an American commercial firearms manufacturer and importer based in Geneseo, Illinois. Founded in 1974 by Bob Reese and family, the company produces rifles such as the M1A and imports handguns such as the XD series and Hellcat. The company is unrelated to the like-named former manufacturer of US military firearms in Massachusetts, Springfield Armory.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a national organization dedicated to training and educating U.S. citizens in responsible uses of firearms and airguns through gun safety training, marksmanship training, and competitions. The CMP is a federally chartered 501(c)(3) corporation that places a priority on serving youth through gun safety and marksmanship activities that encourage personal growth and build life skills.
John Dean "Jeff" Cooper was a United States Marine, the creator of the "modern technique" of handgun shooting, and an expert on the use and history of small arms.
The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSRPA) is the U.S. state of New York's largest and oldest firearms advocacy organization. Established in 1871, the NYSRPA is dedicated to the preservation of gun rights, firearm safety and education, and shooting sports. It is associated with the National Rifle Association of America ("NRA") and engages locally in many activities similar to the NRA.
Gun laws in California regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of California in the United States.
The Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA) is a California law that bans the ownership and transfer of over 50 specific brands and models of firearms, which were classified as assault weapons. Most were rifles, but some were pistols and shotguns. The law was amended in 1999 to classify assault weapons by features of the firearm. Firearms that were legally owned at the time the law was passed were grandfathered if they were registered with the California Department of Justice. The law was overturned in June 2021 in Miller v. Bonta; the ruling is stayed pending appeal.
Charles Edward Chapel was an American politician, college professor, and technical writer best known for his articles and books about firearms.
The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) is a gun rights advocacy group in the United States. They maintain an affiliated PAC and a nonprofit legal foundation. Officially incorporated in Virginia on March 29, 2000, NAGR was founded by Dudley Brown as a national companion organization to Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. NAGR is a rival to the more moderate National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and considers itself to be a more "conservative alternative" to the NRA. The group spends most of its energy focused on lawmakers and moderates who are deemed too compromising on Second Amendment issues. This is achieved via direct mail, robocalls and low-cost television ads. The group has gained notoriety for its lobbying tactics and attack ads.
Chris Cheng is an American sport shooter and The History Channel's Top Shot Season 4 Champion. In 2012, along with the title of "Top Shot", Cheng won a $100,000 cash prize and a professional marksman contract with the show's sponsor, Bass Pro Shops.
The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, popularly known as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, was subtitle A of title XI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law which included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms that were defined as assault weapons as well as certain ammunition magazines that were defined as large capacity.
Assault weapons legislation in the United States refers to bills and laws that define and restrict or make illegal the manufacture, transfer, and possession of assault weapons. How these firearms are defined and regulated varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; generally, this constitutes a list of specific firearms and combinations of features on semiautomatic firearms.
Featureless rifles are rifles with modifications made to remove prohibited features from Modern Sporting Rifles. The term is most commonly used with rifles manufactured or retrofitted to comply with gun laws in California.
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), abbreviated NYSRPA v. Bruen and also known as NYSRPA II or Bruen to distinguish it from the 2020 case, is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court related to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The case concerned the constitutionality of the 1911 Sullivan Act, a New York State law requiring applicants for a pistol concealed carry license to show "proper cause", or a special need distinguishable from that of the general public, in their application.
Miller v. Bonta is a pending court case before Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California concerning California's assault weapon ban, the Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA). Judge Roger Benitez struck down the ban in a ruling on June 5, 2021. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the ruling on June 21, 2021, which left the ban in place as appeals were litigated. The panel then vacated Judge Benitez’s ruling and remanded it back down after [] was decided. The case was known as Miller v. Becerra before Rob Bonta succeeded Xavier Becerra as Attorney General of California in April 2021.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR) is a Canadian gun rights organization.
The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a gun rights organization in the United States, which aims to advance gun rights in the United States via legal action, in keeping with its stated goal to "restore the essential right to keep and bear arms in the United States." The FPC seeks to approach gun rights advocacy in a more targeted and effective way than the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), specifically by working with targeted legal teams to advance legislation in support of gun rights causes.
