Army and Navy Journal editor William Conant Church and General George Wood Wingate chartered the NRA in New York state in 1871. Its first president was Civil War General Ambrose Burnside, who had worked as a Rhode Island gunsmith, and Wingate was the original secretary of the organization.
Union Army records for the Civil War indicate that its troops fired about 1,000 rifle shots for each Confederate soldier hit, causing General Burnside to lament his recruits: "Out of ten soldiers who are perfect in drill and the manual of arms, only one knows the purpose of the sights on his gun or can hit the broad side of a barn." The generals attributed this to the use of volley tactics, devised for earlier, less accurate smoothbore muskets. After observing European marksmanship training, General Wingate was convinced that U.S. forces were in need of better training.
Recognizing a need for better training, Wingate traveled to Europe and observed European armies' marksmanship training programs. With plans provided by Wingate, the New York Legislature funded the construction of a modern range at Creedmore, Long Island, for long-range shooting competitions. Wingate then wrote a marksmanship manual.
The publicity generated by a long-range shooting match to determine an Anglo-American championship in 1874 helped to establish breech-loading firearms (manufactured by match sponsors Remington Arms and Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company) as suitable for military marksmanship training, and promoted the NRA to national prominence.
The organization has since metamorphosed into a highly financed and politically powerful group of extremists who value profits of gun sales (under the guise of protecting the U.S. Constitution) over that of human life and stop at nothing to ensure our spineless representatives are well compensated to be on board.
Witness below. . .
(from NBCNews.com)
". . . "Expanding background checks, at gun shows or elsewhere, will not reduce violent crime or keep our kids safe in their schools," top NRA lobbyist Chris Cox wrote in a letter sent to senators Wednesday night. "Given the importance of these issues, votes on all anti-gun amendments or proposals will be considered in NRA's future candidate evaluations. "The NRA rates lawmakers based on how they vote on the group's priorities. The letter grades are highly influential and carry particular weight in rural states with a strong gun culture. . . ."
I promptly wrote to my representatives in Congress and pleaded (paraphrasing), '. . . I wonder how your NRA evaluations look. I hope they look very BAD. . . '
(thanks to source Wikipedia.com)
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