The National Rifle Association has existed for almost 150 years and the history clip on NRA is a long and hard one. Today, it is one of the most powerful gun lobbies in the country. For the organization’s first 106 years, its mission was to educate gun owners about guns, with no reference to the Second Amendment.
On November 17, 1871, a group of Union army veterans founded the NRA to train men to be better marksmen. For decades, the group focused on training gun owners to be better hunters, teaching Boy Scouts how to shoot, and discussing hunting and conservation efforts.
The organization’s transformation began in the 1960s following a wave of gun control laws; for example, the passage of the Gun Control Act in 1968 created a category of people prohibited from legal gun ownership, including those convicted of violent felonies and domestic abuse. With federal laws beginning to regulate gun ownership, factions within the NRA’s membership base felt threatened. This perception resulted in an eventual leadership coup at the 1977 NRA Annual Meeting—often referenced as the “Cincinnati Revolt”—where a large contingent of gun rights radicals ousted the leadership, replacing them with individuals keen to advance an agenda that protected gun ownership rights. The change in leadership also marked a pivotal moment for the organization’s mission, with the group shifting starkly away from focusing on hunting and gun safety and instead engaging directly in the political debate around guns.
This is where the NRA came from.