The historic context of the birth of National Rifle Association is worth reminding as the country is in the swirl of gun control debate amidst a surge in fatal school shootings. NRA was born, literally, in the battlefield of the Civil War.
Two Union military leaders, Col. William Church and Gen. George Wingate, witnessed sheer lack of good marksmanship by many of their soldiers in battle against Confederate soldiers. After the Civil War was over, they took the initiative to launch in 1871 the National Rifle Association as a training platform for the country's young men to become better marksmen. NRA helped generations of kids to get interested in shooting and hunting. Ambrose Burnside was the first President of the NRA. His goal was to improve the edge of shooting skill of country's youth and make them better prepared for any eventuality in future.
NRA also espoused gun safety rules and education, and was behind the first meaningful gun control legislation. In 1920s, when Prohibition got underway, underground bootlegging operation was overtaken by criminal enterprises and thus the beginning of using guns to settle scores and stoke violence. In the wake of rising crime wave involving the use of the then-widespread Tommy guns, Thompson submachine guns, NRA pushed successfully for the 1934 passage of National Firearms Act. The measure all but banned automatic guns for public to own and carry. Four years later, NRA threw its support for another gun control measure, called the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, that required federal licensing of all gun dealers and banned convicted felons from buying guns.
It is in recent years that NRA has taken a sharp radical turn, and become from primarily a sports and shooting practice entity loved by gun enthusiasts to a political behemoth dominated by radical right.
Two Union military leaders, Col. William Church and Gen. George Wingate, witnessed sheer lack of good marksmanship by many of their soldiers in battle against Confederate soldiers. After the Civil War was over, they took the initiative to launch in 1871 the National Rifle Association as a training platform for the country's young men to become better marksmen. NRA helped generations of kids to get interested in shooting and hunting. Ambrose Burnside was the first President of the NRA. His goal was to improve the edge of shooting skill of country's youth and make them better prepared for any eventuality in future.
NRA also espoused gun safety rules and education, and was behind the first meaningful gun control legislation. In 1920s, when Prohibition got underway, underground bootlegging operation was overtaken by criminal enterprises and thus the beginning of using guns to settle scores and stoke violence. In the wake of rising crime wave involving the use of the then-widespread Tommy guns, Thompson submachine guns, NRA pushed successfully for the 1934 passage of National Firearms Act. The measure all but banned automatic guns for public to own and carry. Four years later, NRA threw its support for another gun control measure, called the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, that required federal licensing of all gun dealers and banned convicted felons from buying guns.
It is in recent years that NRA has taken a sharp radical turn, and become from primarily a sports and shooting practice entity loved by gun enthusiasts to a political behemoth dominated by radical right.
