National Rifle Association
1871
Col. William C. Church
1871 co-founder of the National Rifle Association
– 1872 Second president of the National Rifle Association
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Conant_Church
Gen. George Wingate
1871 co-founder of the National Rifle Association
– 1886 to 1900 president of the National Rifle Association
Gen. Ambrose Burnside
1871 NRA’s first President
Harlon Carter
1951 joined the National Board of the NRA
– 1965-1967 served as NRA president from
– 1975-1976 served as director of the NRA’s lobbying arm
– 1977-1985 served as NRA Executive Vice President
Carter replaced Maxwell Rich as Executive Vice President
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlon_Carter
Neal Knox
– 1977 The NRA Cincinnati Revolt
– 1978-1982 Executive Director of NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA)
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Knox
Marion P. Hammer
- 1970s – Present – NRA lobbyist from Florida
- 1988 – creator of the NRA Eddie Eagle Program
- 1995 to 1998 – 1st female president of the National Rifle Association NRA
Wayne LaPierre
– joined the NRA in 1977
– Since 1991, he has served as executive vice president and chief executive officer of the National Rifle Association (NRA)
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_LaPierre
Chris W. Cox
April 2002 – 2019 executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA)
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_W._Cox
About the National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America was chartered in New York in November 1871 by Union Army veterans William Conant Church and George Wood Wingate, who wanted to “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis” after seeing poor marksmanship during the Civil War. Gen. Ambrose Burnside was elected its first president on November 25, 1871, and the association opened its Creedmoor range on Long Island on June 21, 1873. For its first six decades the NRA focused on marksmanship training, competition and civilian rifle programs.
The NRA formed a Legislative Affairs Division in 1934, after passage of the National Firearms Act, and established the Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) in 1975. The 1977 Cincinnati Revolt at the annual meeting shifted the organization firmly toward political defense of the Second Amendment. Wayne LaPierre led the NRA as executive vice president from 1991 until 2024. In recent years the association went through a 2021 bankruptcy filing that a federal judge dismissed, a 2024 New York civil trial in which a jury found financial misconduct by former leaders, and a unanimous 2024 Supreme Court win in NRA v. Vullo on First Amendment grounds. As of 2026 the NRA is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, led by CEO and Executive Vice President Doug Hamlin, and remains the largest and best-known gun rights organization in the United States.
Key Facts
- November 17, 1871: NRA chartered in New York by William Conant Church and George Wood Wingate
- June 21, 1873: Creedmoor range officially opens
- 1934: Legislative Affairs Division formed after the National Firearms Act
- 1975: NRA Institute for Legislative Action established
- 1977: Cincinnati Revolt at the annual convention
- May 30, 2024: Supreme Court rules for the NRA in NRA v. Vullo
Learn More
Sources
- National Rifle Association, Wikipedia
- National Rifle Association of America History, Funding Universe
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