2A Activists

2A Activists: The People Who Carried the Right Forward

The right to keep and bear arms has been defended by soldiers, frontier women, civil rights leaders, journalists, lawyers, competitors and ordinary citizens willing to put their names on a lawsuit. This page of Minuteman University.com profiles those activists, from nineteenth-century figures to the founders and spokespeople of today’s gun rights organizations, so gun owners can learn the history behind the movement and the range of people who have shaped it.

The list below spans more than 150 years. Union veterans William C. Church and George Wingate founded the National Rifle Association in 1871. Annie Oakley championed marksmanship for women at a time when few women shot competitively. Journalist Ida B. Wells urged Black families to arm themselves for self-defense against lynch mobs in her 1892 pamphlet Southern Horrors. In the modern era, Dick Heller and Otis McDonald became the named plaintiffs in the Supreme Court cases that recognized the individual right in 2008 and applied it to the states in 2010, while writers, researchers and organization founders built the institutions that carry the work on.

Activism takes many forms: founding a group, testifying before a legislature, teaching new shooters, writing, broadcasting, or simply showing that responsible gun owners come from every background. The three focused pages below highlight group founders, influential women in the movement, and one example of outreach aimed at new and female concealed carriers.

Timeline of gun rights activist milestones from 1871 to 2026

Pages in This Section

2A Group Founders: the people who built the organizations gun owners rely on.
Famous 2A Females: women who shaped shooting, self-defense and gun rights history.
CCW Fashion Show: the 2019 concealed carry fashion show at the NRA Personal Protection Expo in Fort Worth.

Related Sections

2A Authors, 2A Researchers and 2A Attorneys: the writers, scholars and litigators of the movement.
2A Radio Hosts, 2A Podcasters and 2A Bloggers: the voices that carry the message to gun owners.
Politicians and 2A Doctors: officials and physicians who speak up for gun owners.
Gun Owners Rights Groups: the organizations many of these activists founded or led.

Ways to Get Involved

Join a state association; state legislatures pass most of the laws gun owners live under.
Take or teach a basic course; bringing new shooters in safely is one of the most effective forms of advocacy.
Contact legislators respectfully and stick to verified facts.
Find instructors and training through After Action.net.