1939
Grandmother, 2A Activist
- She learned to shoot “squirrels and rabbits for dinner” with a .22 bolt-action single-shot rifle
- Florida’s top gun lobbyist
- 1974 – Present – NRA lobbyist from Florida
- 1976 – Today – Runs the Unified Sportsmen of Florida (USF)
- 1987 – Lobbied for Florida concealed-carry (CCW)
- 1988 – creator of the NRA Eddie Eagle Program
- Created the Range Protection Act.
- 1993 – Outstanding Community Service Award from National Safety Council
- 1995 to 1998 – 1st female president of the National Rifle Association NRA
- 2005 – Florida Women’s Hall of Fame
- 2005 – Involved in the Florida Stand-your-ground law – “one of the chief architects” first to be passed in the United States
About Marion P. Hammer
Marion P. Hammer is one of the most influential state-level gun rights advocates in American history. She led Unified Sportsmen of Florida, the state’s NRA affiliate, for decades and was hired as the National Rifle Association’s Florida lobbyist in September 1978. From Tallahassee she worked on legislation that other states later studied and copied, most notably Florida’s 1987 shall-issue right-to-carry law, often described as the “first domino” in the nationwide spread of right-to-carry, and the 2005 Stand Your Ground law signed by Governor Jeb Bush.
Hammer served as president of the National Rifle Association from 1995 to 1998, the first woman to hold the office. She is also credited with creating the NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe program, which teaches young children to stop, not touch a gun, leave the area and tell an adult. The NRA announced her retirement as its Florida lobbyist in June 2022 after 44 years, with Hammer remaining as an advisor, and she continued to serve as executive director of Unified Sportsmen of Florida. The NRA’s annual Marion P. Hammer Woman of Distinction Award is named in her honor, and she has been inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.
Key Facts
- September 1978: Hired as the NRA’s Florida lobbyist.
- 1987: Leads the push for Florida’s shall-issue right-to-carry law.
- 1995 to 1998: Serves as NRA president, the first woman in the role.
- 2005: Florida’s Stand Your Ground law is signed by Governor Jeb Bush.
- 2018: Receives the NRA Women’s Leadership Forum Lifetime Achievement Award.
- June 2022: The NRA announces her retirement as its Florida lobbyist after 44 years.
Sources
- NRA’s First Lady of Freedom: Marion P. Hammer (NRA Women)
- Florida NRA Lobbyist Marion Hammer Retiring After Four Decades (The Capitolist)
- Florida Bulldog report on Marion Hammer, April 2024
Profiles on Minuteman University.com are editorial content compiled from public sources. Inclusion does not imply endorsement of, sponsorship by, or affiliation with this site or the Gun Websites Firearms Network. Corrections and removal requests are welcome through Contact Us.