In any struggle, but particularly in one for human freedom, we should stop and look back now and then, as a backward glance can remind us of our true course.
When we look back at the intertwined history of America and the National Rifle Association, we see our nation’s Founding Fathers writing and then ratifying the U.S. Bill of Rights in 1791, just after bearing arms to win their, and now our, freedom. By including the “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” they showed they understood the importance of this fundamental right, as a majority of them knew that government, even one so imbued with constitutional checks and balances, could one day descend into lawless tyranny.
Now jump forward 80 years to 1871 and we see two army officers—Col. William Conant Church, a Union Army veteran and editor of the Army and Navy Journal, and Gen. George Wood Wingate, also a Union veteran—forming the National Rifle Association to train citizens to shoot, as they knew this freedom can’t long endure if we the people forget how to properly use firearms.
And, in the proceeding years, see all the incredible NRA shooting competitions in New York state and then in so many others, and then see a gun drive instituted with help from NRA members to aid the United Kingdom in repelling an invasion during World War II, and so much more.
Next, witness how the NRA increasingly advocated for this freedom in legislatures and courtrooms and was impelled to formally begin the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) in 1975. And then, thanks to its millions of members, behold this association taking this right back piece by legal and legislative piece across this nation.
Indeed, as we look back, we must wonder what would have happened in this land of the free and home of the brave without the NRA.
Would our individual right to keep and bear arms have been upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court if it wasn’t for all the legal work, historical research, and civic education over decades from the NRA? Would 29 states now have constitutional carry?
We should not forget that about half a century ago, when ILA was formed on the eve of this nation’s bicentennial, America’s freedom was at a tipping point.
During this period, crime was a national crisis and then, as now, gun-control groups claimed the problem could be solved by regulating away law-abiding citizens’ Second Amendment-protected rights. Anti-freedom groups did have a lot of people fooled: A 1975 Gallup poll actually indicated that 41% of Americans supported a national handgun ban; in fact, Washington, D.C., banned handgun possession in 1976 and Chicago followed suit in 1982.
Meanwhile, the right to carry a concealed handgun for self-protection was recognized in only six states. To counter this, NRA-ILA’s strategy included funding academic research into the history and original meaning of the Second Amendment and building upon the NRA’s cohesive culture of responsible gun ownership to make sure pro-gun voters knew the records of their candidates.
State by state, issue by issue, NRA-ILA won back our freedom. Then the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) invalidated D.C.’s handgun ban and reaffirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Handgun bans, in the Court’s words, were “off the table.”
Two years later, the high court affirmed that this holding also restricted states and local governments and thereby ended Chicago’s handgun ban.
Finally, in the NRA-backed case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), the high court reaffirmed that this right extends outside of the home.
Now, right-to-carry is the law in all 50 states.
It is hard to say if any of that would have happened without a strong NRA.
Now, let’s face forward again. We have new challenges but also growing strengths. We are now embracing new means of communication and are building an NRA that’s striding forward into the future; for example, download the new NRA app from wherever you like to get your apps and you’ll have everything we are doing at your fingertips. This includes finding qualified NRA instructors near you, NRA competitions, Second Amendment news, gun reviews, our Official Journals, and a Member Benefits section that will give you deals on guns and gear and even travel. I used the app recently to book guests into a nearby hotel and saved a lot. As members, you have massive benefits—explore them and tell others about them!
As you do, be thankful that together we are still celebrating our freedom as America is on the doorstep of 250 years since delegates began to sign the Declaration of Independence. If we stand together as we have done for so long, your NRA will continue to carry the guidon of our freedom into the future.
