National Firearms Museum

Last updated
National Firearms Museum
National Firearms Museum logo.png
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Virginia
Location11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax County, Virginia, US
Coordinates 38°51′47″N77°20′06″W / 38.862972°N 77.335°W / 38.862972; -77.335
DirectorPhil Schreier
Curatorvacant
Owner National Rifle Association of America
Website www.nramuseum.org

The NRA National Firearms Museum is a museum located at the NRA Headquarters Building in Fairfax County, Virginia. Approximated 2,500 guns are displayed in 15,000 square feet. The NRA National Firearms Museum is operated by the Museums Division of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), with partial funding provided by the NRA Foundation, a 501(c)3 corporation. It was established in 1935 at the old NRA Headquarters in Washington DC, and moved to its current location in 1998.

The museum's exhibits cover seven centuries of firearms development and history. The main museum galleries are organized chronologically. Exhibits include firearms used for competition shooting, hunting, personal defense, recreational shooting, and police work. Also on display are military arms used by the United States, its allies and enemies in major conflicts from the American Revolution through Desert Storm. Each gallery is evocative of a period of time in American history, including a stockade fort at Jamestown, firearms of the Old West, a Coney Island shooting gallery ca. 1900, and a kid's bedroom from the 1950s. Life-sized dioramas include a nineteenth century rifle-maker's shop, a trench on the Western Front in WWI, and a shelled-out town square in Normandy in WWII. [1] Two galleries feature firearms and the arts. "The Robert E. Petersen Gallery" features masterpieces of firearms engraving. The "Hollywood Guns" exhibit features actual guns used in movies and television over the past 80 years. [2] [3]

Historically attributed guns on display include: [4] [5]

The NRA Museums Division is the custodian of approximately 10,000 firearms with many of them displayed at three NRA Museums - the NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax County, Virginia; the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum at Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Missouri; and the Frank Brownell Museum of the Southwest at the NRA Whittington Center in Raton, New Mexico.

The NRA Museums Division has published three books on firearms - Illustrated History of Firearms, Treasures of the NRA National Firearms Museum, and Guns of the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum. It has produced five seasons of the cable television shows NRA Gun Gurus [6] and NRA Guns & Gold. NRA Museums staff, firearms, and locations are featured on Gun Stories, American Rifleman Television, the "NRA News Curators Corner" segment, and other television shows.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shooting sports</span> Sports involving firearms used to hit targets

Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms and bows/crossbows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Rifle Association</span> American nonprofit organization

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun Control Act of 1968</span> US federal law

The Gun Control Act of 1968 is a U.S. federal law that regulates the firearms industry and firearms ownership. Due to constitutional limitations, the Act is primarily based on regulating interstate commerce in firearms by generally prohibiting interstate firearms transfers except by manufacturers, dealers and importers licensed under a scheme set up under the Act.

Gun laws in Australia are predominantly within the jurisdiction of Australian states and territories, with the importation of guns regulated by the federal government. In the last two decades of the 20th century, following several high-profile killing sprees, the federal government coordinated more restrictive firearms legislation with all state governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun politics in the United States</span> Political concern

Gun politics is defined in the United States by two primary opposing ideologies concerning the private ownership of firearms. Those who advocate for gun control support increasingly restrictive regulation of gun ownership; those who advocate for gun rights oppose increased restriction, or support the liberalization of gun ownership. These groups typically disagree on the interpretation of the text, history and tradition of the laws and judicial opinions concerning gun ownership in the United States and the meaning of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. American gun politics involves these groups' further disagreement concerning the role of firearms in public safety, the studied effects of ownership of firearms on public health and safety, and the role of guns in national and state crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marksmanship badges (United States)</span> US military and civilian decoration

In the United States (U.S.), a marksmanship badge is a U.S. military badge or a civilian badge which is awarded to personnel upon successful completion of a weapons qualification course or high achievement in an official marksmanship competition. The U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps are the only military services that award marksmanship qualification badges. However, marksmanship medals and/or marksmanship ribbons are awarded by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Air Force for weapons qualifications. For non-military personnel, different U.S. law enforcement organizations and the National Rifle Association (NRA) award marksmanship qualification badges to those involved in law enforcement. Additionally, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and the NRA award marksmanship qualification badges to U.S. civilians. Most of these organizations and the U.S. National Guard award marksmanship competition badges to the people they support who succeed in official competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Bill Center of the West</span> American West museums in Wyoming, United States

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indians Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum. Founded in 1917 to preserve the legacy and vision of Col. William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West is the oldest and most comprehensive museum complex of the West.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frazier History Museum</span> History museum in Louisville, Kentucky

The Frazier History Museum, previously known as the Frazier Historical Arms Museum and the Frazier International History Museum, is a history museum located on Museum Row in the West Main District of downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

The Violence Policy Center (VPC) is an American nonprofit organization that advocates for gun control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Rifle Association (United Kingdom)</span> Sports governing body in the United Kingdom

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is the governing body for full bore rifle and pistol shooting sports in the United Kingdom. The Association was founded in 1859 with the founding aim of raising funds for an annual national rifle meeting to improve standards of marksmanship. Today the NRA continues this objective as well as organising civilian target shooting and selecting British teams to contest the ICFRA World Championships. The National Shooting Centre at Bisley is a wholly owned subsidiary of the association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Fire Arms Manufacturing Company</span>

United States Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, Inc. was a privately held firearms-manufacturing firm based in Hartford, Connecticut. Until 2011, United States Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, Inc. was known for producing single action revolvers, which were clones of the Colt Single Action Army revolver. The factory was located "Under the Blue Dome", in the East Armory building of the former Colt Armory complex, where Colt's Manufacturing Company produced many of their classic firearms in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<i>American Rifleman</i>

American Rifleman is a United States-based monthly shooting and firearms interest publication, owned by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). It is the 33rd-most-widely-distributed consumer magazine and the NRA's primary magazine. The magazine has its headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Hunters and Shooters Association</span> American non-profit organization

The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) was a United States-based non-profit 501(c)(4) organization which operated from 2005 to 2010. The group described itself as a national grassroots organization for responsible gun ownership and advocated for increased gun control. The organization's president, Ray Schoenke, said the AHSA was intended to bridge the gap between urban liberals and rural gun owners, but closed down due to a lack of support from the Obama administration.

<i>NRA Gun Club</i> 2006 video game

NRA Gun Club is described as a nonviolent first-person target shooting game by Crave Entertainment in North America and 505 Games only in Italy. Although not released in the UK, a few PAL UK units have been found in circulation in some 505 European markets. The game allows gamers to enter the shooting range and shoot at paper targets, watermelons and sporting clays. The game contains over 100 licensed and recreated firearms. It was endorsed by the National Rifle Association of America, bearing their logo on the cover art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Shooting Centre</span> Target shooting centre in Bisley, UK

The National Shooting Centre is the UK's largest shooting sports complex, comprising several shooting ranges as well as the large "Bisley Camp" complex of accommodation, clubhouses and support services. The centre is located near the village of Bisley in Surrey from which it takes its colloquial name "Bisley ranges". The site is wholly owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NSC is the trading name of the facility.

The NRA Whittington Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive shooting facilities in the United States. Owned and operated by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the centre is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Colfax County, New Mexico. Ten percent of the 33,300-acre (13,500 ha) site has been developed to include twenty-three shooting ranges, an administration building, a cafeteria, a museum, a library, classrooms, and full-service hookups for 175 recreational vehicles. The remainder of the site provides wildlife habitat at elevations above 6,300 feet (1,900 m) with primitive camp-grounds and remote back-country cabins for hunting, bird watching, wildlife viewing, photography, hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding.

In February 2018, a boycott emerged against the U.S. gun rights advocacy group National Rifle Association of America (NRA) and its business affiliates. The boycott and social media activism campaign arose in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. The NRA was criticized for its response, including its recommendation for schools to arm teachers and opposition to bans on certain weapons. Calls for companies to sever their ties to the NRA resulted in several companies discontinuing their business relationships with the NRA and cancelling discount programs offered to NRA members. The boycott extended to Canada where Mountain Equipment Co-op and the Running Room cut supplier relationships with Vista Outdoor. Public pressure also caused a number of gun retailers to increase the age required to buy firearms and place other restrictions on gun sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NRATV</span> Online video website of the National Rifle Association of America

NRATV was the online video channel of the National Rifle Association of America. It was established as an offshoot of NRA News in 2016 and ceased production in 2019 and went offline.

References

  1. "Visit Your Favorite Museum for Free on Museum Day | Museum Day | Smithsonian Magazine". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  2. "National Firearms Museum". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  3. "Roadtrippers Magazine". Roadtrippers. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  4. "Tour of the National Firearms Museum | C-SPAN Classroom". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  5. "NRATV | Curator's Corner". www.nratv.com. Archived from the original on 2018-03-17.
  6. "NRA Gun Gurus | NRATV". www.nratv.com. Archived from the original on 2019-06-17.