Maryland AG: Rimfire Replicas Not Necessarily Assault Weapons

In a victory for marketers of popular .22 caliber replicas of centerfire military pattern rifles, Maryland’s Attorney General has issued a favorable opinion as to what constitutes a “copy” of a so-called “assault weapon.”

The issue was whether .22 caliber rimfire rifles that may cosmetically resemble firearms defined as “assault weapons” in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Public Safety Article § S-101, should be regulated under that section as “copies” of the therein listed center-fire models.

According to the AG’s office opinion, a copy must be similar “in its internal components and function to the designated weapon. Cosmetic similarity to an enumerated assault weapon alone would not bring a weapon within the meaning of the state’s “Regulated Firearms law.” The opinion also states that the Maryland State Police will make the initial decision as to whether the gun’s internal parts make it a “copy” of an “assault weapon.” The opinion was issued at the request of the state police with the active involvement of the Maryland Licensed Firearms Retailers Association.

The statutory definition of “regulated firearm” in Maryland’s Regulated Firearms law (mandating special sale regulations for so-called “assault weapons” or “regulated firearms”) specifies a list of designated assault weapons “or their copies.” The state police asked for an opinion on the meaning of the word “copies” in the law’s context.

For background, a person seeking to purchase, rent or transfer a regulated firearm in Maryland must submit an application for review and approval of the transaction by the Dept. of State Police. The statute defines “regulated firearm” to include two categories of firearms – handguns and “a firearm that is any of the following specific assault weapons or their copies, regardless of which company produced and manufactured that assault weapon…” referring to a long list of firearm makes and models. The statute does not further define the word “copies”.

The AG’s office noted that the list of “assault weapons” in the statute that could be the subject of a “copy” suggests that cosmetic similarity alone would not suffice. For example, three of the four firearms on the list are described by specific calibers. The specification of the caliber, the AG noted, indicates that an otherwise identical firearm of a different caliber would not be a regulated firearm.

More importantly, the AG found, the reference to “copies” of specific arms was intended to ensure that the requirements of the law could not be avoided simply by rebranding or superficially changing a named gun. This also suggests, the AG found, that “copies” was intended to relate to components and function; not simply appearance. “Interpreting ‘copy’ to include any firearm that merely looked like one of the enumerated firearms would run contrary to the choices made by the legislature,” the AG wrote.

“Consistent with the General Assembly’s apparent intent to create a definition with an eye toward the function of the weapon, a ‘copy’ would include a firearm whose internal components and function, necessary to the operation of the firearm, are similar to those of one of the specifically enumerated assault weapons. As the agency charged with administering the regulated firearms law, the Dept. of State Police must make that assessment,” the AG concluded. The Maryland State Police have since formed a committee to study the issue.

New Rule Gives ATF Director Ultimate Decision-Making Authority in FFL Matters

The Bureau of ATF&E has initiated a ruling which provides ATF headquarters oversight of all administrative actions prior to notices being sent to the licensee. The ruling establishes the final approval authority for denial of applications for licenses, suspension or revocation of licenses, or imposition of civil fines.

The rule adopted amends the regulations of ATF to delegate to the Director of ATF the authority to serve as the deciding official regarding the denial, suspension, imposition of a fine, or revocation of FFLs. The rule allows the ATF Director to delegate to another ATF official the authority to decide a revocation or denial matter. Such flexibility, ATF says, is intended to allow ATF to more efficiently conduct denial, suspension or revocation hearings, and make the determination whether to impose a civil fine. The rule is expected to give ATF the ability to ensure consistency in decision-making and to address case backlogs, the agency says.

The regulations in Subpart E of Part 478, §§478.71-78, relate to proceedings involving federal firearms licensees, including the denial, suspension, and revocation of a license. The Dept. of Justice published an interim rule with request for comments at 74 FR 1875 on January 14, 2009 with the comment period ending April 14, 2009. The new rule essentially amends ATF’s regulations to re-designate the ATF Director, as opposed to the Director of Industry Operations (DIO), as the deciding official in matters dealing with the denial, suspension or revocation of federal firearms licenses, and the imposition of a civil fine. The ruling allows the Director to re-delegate this authority though issuance of a delegation order, not through regulation.

ATF contends this approach is consistent with other regulations in Part 478. It cites, for example, § 478.144 provides that the Director is the deciding authority with respect to applications for relief from firearms disabilities. Further, ATF says these changes to the decision-making and related delegation authority were the only substantial changes made by the interim rule. All other aspects of the ATF processes, including notice and review provisions, remain the same.

In response to the aforementioned comment period, ATF received three comments. Two were said to support the interim regulations, while a third expressed opposition. The opposing commenter expressed a concern that under the interim regulations the Director’s decision is not subject to review.

According to ATF, this opposing commenter wrote: “The only other times in the state of American government, aside from the Presidency, where one person is afforded the opportunity to make decisions affecting others without a system of checks and balances is by a judge. Even then, there is an appeals process by which this one individual’s interpretation of legal circumstances may be reviewed.

“…To afford the director of a government agency, or any other appointed individual for that matter, the ability to ‘legislate’ freely as he deems necessary regarding the denial, suspension, or revocation of a federally issued license seems not only unconstitutional, but potentially unethical if this one man’s ruling is subject to a political agenda.”

ATF’s response to this dissenting commenter, written by James P. Ficaretta, ATF Enforcement Programs and Services, and published in the Federal Register, begins by stating that the due process system of checks and balances is already incorporated into the procedures for denying or suspending FFLs. Prior to any adverse decision, ATF notes, the agency must provide notice to the affected applicant or license holder and provide that person with an opportunity to present evidence in a hearing.

Before the interim rule became effective, the DIO for each field division had the authority to issue the final decision. The interim rule vests this same authority to issue a final decision in the ATF Director. The Director may, in turn, delegate that authority to headquarters officials, field officials, or some combination thereof.

ATF further details that under 18 U.S.C. 923(f), a denied applicant still has the opportunity for federal court review of the decision. The court could overrule ATF’s decision in a case. ATF says the rule change simply elevates final decision-making authority within the ATF to the Director.

Kenneth E. Melson, ATF’s Deputy Director, issued a statement saying, “ATF, in an effort to ensure consistency within the FFL community, initiated the ruling which provides ATF headquarters oversight of all administrative actions prior to notices being sent to the licensee.”

Copies of the interim rule, the comment received and the final rule are available for public inspection by appointment during business hours at the ATF Reading Room, Room 1E-063, 99 New York Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20226, Tel: (202) 648-7080.

False Rumors on U.N. Small Arms Treaty

False rumors are circulating on the Internet to the effect that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed a U.N. small arms treaty. Clinton has not signed any such treaty as no such treaty has yet been negotiated.

The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty will be drafted sometime before now and 2012, and even if signed, would not take effect in the U.S. until it was ratified by the Senate.

All that has happened so far is that the Obama Administration has announced its support for the treaty. The U.N. claims that guns used in armed conflicts cause 300,000 deaths worldwide annually. The solution it offers to keep rebels from getting guns is to make the global arms pool smaller through government action. Proposed is that signatory countries be required to “prevent, combat and eradicate” various classes of firearms to undermine “the illicit trade in small arms.” Inherent in this would be confiscation of personally-held firearms. The U.N. treaty will lead to more American gun control.

“After the treaty is approved and it comes into force, you will find that it has this implication or that implication and it requires the congress to adopt some measure that restricts ownership of firearms,” former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John R. Bolton warns.

“The Obama Administration knows it cannot obtain this kind of legislation purely in a domestic context. They will use an international agreement as an excuse to get domestically what they couldn’t otherwise,” Bolton concludes.

Kahr Arms Acquires Magnum Research

Kahr Arms, the producer of quality, compact pistols, has announced its purchase of Minnesota-based firearms manufacturer, Magnum Research, Inc., best known for its Desert Eagle pistol. This latest acquisition follows up on Kahr’s buy of Auto-Ordnance some years ago, producer of Thompson submachine gun replicas in semi-auto.

Magnum Research, Inc. was founded in 1979 and its current line includes: Desert Eagle pistol in .50 AE, .44 Magnum and .357 Magnum; Baby Desert Eagle “Fast Action” pistol 9mm and .40 S&W; Desert Eagle 1911; Micro Desert Eagle in .380 ACP; BFR revolvers in .44 Mag., .45LC/.410 and .45-70, Mountain Eagle MAGNUM LITE rifle in .22-250, .223, .30-06, .280 and 7mm; and the MAGNUM LITE rifle in .22 LR, .22 WMR, and .17 MACH-2.

NRA’s Cox Reviews Achievements of Past Decade

During the 2010 NRA’s Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chris W. Cox, Executive Director of the NRA’s lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, reviewed accomplishments made for the right to keep and bear arms in an address to the NRA membership.

Noting that while the clock cannot be turned back on Election Day 2008, ten years ago, almost to the day, NRA President Charlton Heston stood in Charlotte and called on NRA members to Vote Freedom First!

Following Heston’s advice, voters on Election Day 2000 stopped Al Gore and the vote later enabled the confirmation of Attorney General John Ashcroft who changed the position of the federal government in support of the Second Amendment as an individual right. Just the year before, Bill Clinton’s Justice Department had said there was no individual right to arms. In 2002, voters elected a Congress that let Bill Clinton’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” expire. By voting freedom first in 2004, Americans kept John Kerry out of the White House, kicked Tom Daschle out as Senate Majority Leader and ended seven years of roadblocks to give lawsuit protection to the firearms industry.

One vote for President Bush secured two pro-gun votes on the U.S. Supreme Court through the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito. This resulted in the Heller decision confirming the right to keep and bear arms.

Cox additionally noted that right-to-carry laws have been improved in seven states so far this year. Calling self-defense reform, real health care reform, Cox detailed:

• Castle Doctrines are in effect in 24 states;
• Laws prohibiting Katrina-type gun confiscations have been passed in 28 states; and
• Reciprocity is spreaing across the country.

The author publishes two of the small arms industry’s most widely read trade newsletters. The International Firearms Trade covers the world firearms scene, and The New Firearms Business covers the domestic market. Visit www.FirearmsGroup.com. He may be reached at: FirearmsB@aol.com.

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act proved the basis for dismissal of the notorious lawsuit by the City of New York against the firearms industry. This suit by the city and its mayor, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, sought to hold manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of firearms.

“The dismissal of this bogus lawsuit against America’s firearm industry is an important victory,” declared Chris W. Cox, executive director for the National Rifle Association (NRA). “New York City’s lawsuit was a politically motivated attack by an anti-gun mayor to bankrupt a lawful industry.”

The Manhattan-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which NRA helped pass into law in 2005, is constitutional and that Judge Jack B. Weinstein erroneously interpreted that law in his district court ruling allowing the suit to proceed. Similar suits have been dismissed in the Seventh Circuit, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and in other courts throughout the country.

“We think Congress clearly intended to protect from vicarious liability members of the firearms industry who engage in the ‘lawful design, manufacture, marketing, distribution, importation, or sale’ of firearms,” noted Judge Robert J. Miner, writing for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in dismissing the suit.

This decision represents another setback to Mayor Bloomberg, who has also been publicly rebuked by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for his unlawful “sting” operations against firearm retailers in several states.

Retailer Stands Alone Against NYC

While the suit filed by New York City against firearms manufacturers has been dismissed, the city is still suing individual retailers. With the brokering of a settlement between two Georgia firearms retailers and New York City in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2006 suit against them, there now remains a single defendant in a lawsuit resulting from the infamous and spurious sting operations conducted by the city against so-called “rogue gun dealers.”

That defendant is Smyrna, Georgia based Adventure Outdoors, which has not only refused to enter into a settlement agreement (which would entail allowing a representative of New York City to monitor its sales) but has filed a defamation suit against Bloomberg.

The city had sent out private investigators several years ago to a variety of firearms retailers (both in New York and other states) and deliberately attempted to induce them through trickery to complete firearms sales to the investigators which could be construed as being so-called “strawman transactions.” The “investigations” resulted in the city filing two federal lawsuits against some 27 gun shops in 2006.

The city claimed it had identified the owners of the 27 shops as “rogues” who cared more about making money than public safety and alleged that firearms sold by these shops were a frequent source of guns that were used to commit crimes in New York City. The lawsuit claims 21 guns sold at Adventure Outdoors were used during the commission of a crime in New York City between 1994 and 2001.

The lawyer for Adventure Outdoors’ co-owner, Jay Wallace, says his client will not settle with Bloomberg. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his client “will go as far as to hock his car and his shop and all the guns in it to see this case through.”

“This guy has complete moral conviction that he did not do anything wrong,” the lawyer continued. “He feels he has been wronged, and he’s going to show the jury that New York City is wrong. They sued the wrong guy.” At SAR presstime, the case was scheduled to go to trial last spring. The city has pulled strings to steer the trial to be heard in the courtroom of the notorious anti-gun activist, Judge Jack B. Weinstein.

A gun shop in Virginia and another in South Carolina, who are also contesting the city’s claims, are slated to have their cases heard in federal court this fall when the second case is scheduled for trial.

The cases are embarrassing to ATF as New York City attempts to appropriate its regulatory authority – and it does so in a Draconian manner, much worse than ATF’s now well-known “zero tolerance policy” for record-keeping errors by licensees.

The gun shops that settled with the city (even those in states other than New York) had to agree to have their store operations monitored for three years by a “special master” appointed to the position and paid by New York City. The “master” reviews records and inventory, is permitted to videotape sales activities and to send in “undercover customers” to attempt straw purchases. Store employees are given enhanced training on making legal firearms sales, and identifying straw purchasers.

In a side note, soon after Bloomberg filed his original series of suits against the retailers in 2006, ATF said it would investigate the legality of his sting investigation, which was conducted by non-law enforcement personnel. To date, nothing has been forthcoming from ATF on the issue.

Those retailers who have settled their cases were said to have done so for financial reasons as they didn’t have the financial resources to match those of the New York City government.

Two months after the city filed its first lawsuit, Adventure Outdoors filed a $400 million defamation suit in federal court in Atlanta against the city and Bloomberg. The store’s attorney, former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, took issue with the city’s allegation that his client is a “rogue gun dealer.” Barr commented, “These are outrageous statements, they are false, they are defamatory and they are slanderous and that is what we have alleged in our lawsuit.”

A judge has cleared the way for Adventure Outdoors tortuous interference with business claim and the case is pending. Lawyers for Bloomberg unsuccessfully attempted to have the case heard in New York City (where it probably would have been steered into Weinberg’s courtroom). It will be heard in Georgia.

Wallace estimates that he will incur legal costs of at least $400,000 in defending and prosecuting the two actions. He has received a $5,000 contribution from the Second Amendment Foundation, $1,000 from the National Rifle Association and $2,500 from a fellow Georgia firearms retailer, Chuck’s Gun & Pawn of Warner Robins, GA.

A fund has been started to help finance the actions. Non-tax deductible contributions may be sent to: Bloomberg Fight Back Fund, 630 Windy Hill Road, Smyrna, GA 30080.

Wal-Mart to Video Tape Gun Buyers

Wal-Mart recently joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a gathering of Bloomberg’s anti-gun group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, to announce a series of changes to the way in which Wal-Mart handles firearm transactions.

At the press event, J.P. Suarez, chief compliance officer for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., said: “The costs are, we think, part of what it takes to be responsible.” Suarez also added, “This is not a signal that we’re getting out of firearms.”

Once these changes are up and running, firearm purchases at Wal-Mart will involve a video record of the sale, which the store will keep on file – effectively creating a video database of gun purchasers. In addition, Wal-Mart announced that its employees will be given discretion to deny firearms purchases to anyone who has had a firearm traced by BATFE for any reason – including those who have had a firearm stolen and later used in criminal activity.

Wayne LaPierre, NRA Executive Vice President, said, “I view it as a public relations stunt that stigmatizes law-abiding firearms purchasers exercising their constitutional freedoms. I honestly think it’s a corporation trying to curry favor with politicians as opposed to doing anything meaningful about stopping crime.”

RZM Imports Employee Admits Stealing $816,129 from Company

A former employee of RZM Imports, Inc., the large Southbury, Connecticut-based marketer of World War Two military and firearms books, magazines, videos, etc., has pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of income tax evasion.

According to documents filed with the U.S. District Court and statements made in court, Leslie Tavolacci, 56, a part-time employee of RZM Imports, as part of her duties opened and sorted incoming mail, and then deposited checks received by RZM from customers into the company’s bank account. In pleading guilty, Tavolacci admitted that she unlawfully took a large number of checks payable to her employer and deposited them into other checking accounts she had opened under the RZM Imports, Inc. name. She then withdrew the money from these accounts, usually using bank debit cards, and used the funds for her own use and enrichment. Through this scheme, she was alleged to have embezzled approximately $816,129 between 1997 and 2004.

As a result of her guilty plea, Tavolacci faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years and a fine of up to $350,000.

FNH Doubles Web Site Traffic

Traffic to the FNH USA website (www.FNHUSA.com) doubled recently after enhancements were made, the firm says. These include an interactive dealer locator, downloadable wallpapers and logos, a photo gallery, product reviews and video content.

Sturm, Ruger Wins Prisons Contract

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. announces that it has been awarded a 5-year requirements contract for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The contract is for 1,750 9mm pistols, with the potential to replace up to 3,000 pistols for the federal prison system. The pistols to be supplied are based on the Ruger KP95 models. The pistols are double-action only, incorporate a stainless steel slide, and feature a custom polymer composite frame with a Picatinny rail.

The Ruger pistols to be supplied under this contract will be manufactured in the company’s Prescott, Arizona manufacturing facility over the next five years.

The author publishes two of the small arms industry’s most widely read trade newsletters. The International Firearms Trade covers the world firearms scene, and The New Firearms Business covers the domestic market. Visit www.FirearmsGroup.com. He may be reached at: FirearmsB@aol.com.

The long awaited new National Rifle Association National Firearms Museum is now completed and open for viewing by the public. Construction began in December 1997 and was completed in late May 1998.

Covering approximately 15,000-square-feet, the museum displays historically significant firearms from 1350 to the present. The 85 exhibits are housed in 13 galleries containing photographs, graphic art and period objects, along with the firearm collections. This new museum is four times the size of the old museum housed within NRA’s former headquarters in Washington, D.C. that closed in late 1993. Construction costs totaled about $2.5 million for the new museum. An endowment of $10 million is being established to fund the museum’s operation in perpetuity.

Displaying more firearms than the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the collection encompasses a diverse assortment of civilian and military firearms, accouterments, ammunition and accessories. More than 2,000 guns are on permanent exhibit from the museum’s total collection of 3,500. Nearly all were donated.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony held last May, then NRA president Marion P. Hammer said the museum, “Is more than a window to America’s history-it is a crucial link to our nation’s future, and to the survival of Second Amendment freedom in the hearts and minds of future generations. This museum will stand as a permanent repository of American history and liberty-a tangible tribute to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.”

The museum’s overall theme is the display of firearms to give a tribute to America’s history, and heritage in a series of exhibits forming a chain stretching back to this country’s founders. The firearms are actually representative of the deeds of courage, sacrifice and valor of various endeavors Americans have engaged in.

Displays features firearms from the Old World, the American colonies, the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the Lewis & Clark Expedition, the Mexican and Civil Wars, the American West, the Gold Rush, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and other significant periods and events.

The wheelock musket brought to America on the Mayflower by Pilgrim John Alden is on display, as are guns of other notables such as Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s shotgun, sharpshooter Annie Oakley’s rifles, General Douglas MacArthur’s pocket pistol, mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner’s guns, exhibition shooter Ed McGivern’s revolvers, and the arms of presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush.

Other exhibits highlight the gunmaker’s artistry with richly engraved and inlaid firearms. Air guns are also featured, as are the handcrafted pistols, rifles and shotguns used by Olympic competitors. Many of the guns are displayed against large scale dioramas representing such subjects as a colonial fort, the muddy trenches of World War I, and general infantrymen searching a demolished World War II enemy stronghold. Replicas of a Civil War arms factory, as well as the St. Louis, Missouri, rifle shop of Jacob and Samuel Hawken, creators of the famous Hawken rifle used by mountain men of the 19th century may be seen. U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill combination library/gun room has been recreated. As the visitor enters, what appears to be a wall-length bookcase in the room will disappear to reveal a collection of high grade sporting arms displayed inside.

The circa 1903 Coney Island shooting gallery contains a restored boardwalk shooting gallery with fully-functional moving targets and sound effects (no shooting is permitted within the museum however). Originally steam-powered, the gallery was converted to electricity in 1918. When the visitor walks up to take a closer look at the three dozen Winchester 1890 gallery guns on the counter, a motion detector is triggered which sets the gallery into motion to a background of calliope music.

Information on all of the firearms on display is contained within fourteen interactive computer terminals located throughout the museum. To use, one enters the display case and gun numbers on a terminal keyboard, and detailed information about the specific firearms requested appears on a monitor.

On the second floor of the museum is a comprehensive firearms research library containing technical catalogs, journals, and other research materials. The library is open to the general public by appointment only. Call (703) 267-1600 for scheduling arrangements. The second floor also contains a firearm conservation laboratory where various preservation techniques are applied to the guns in the collection. Other facilities within the museum are a gift shop, and a multi-media orientation room. A changing exhibit gallery, funded by a $1 million personal gift from William B. Ruger, founder of Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., features significant firearms on loan from other prestigious institutions and private collections. Every six to nine months a new collection will be highlighted within this gallery.

“I feel the National Firearms Museum will tie together the history, craftsmanship, engineering, and design of firearms as an integral part of the heritage of this country,” Ruger said when making the gift.

Specific Exhibits

In light of the need to interest more youth in the shooting sports, the “For the Fun of It” gallery contains four exhibits of particular interest to youth. “A Child’s Room-Circa 1952” is a recreation of a typical boys’ bedroom of the period replete with toy guns displayed around the room and rolls of paper caps scattered on the dresser top, Boys’ Life magazine and comic books illustrated with the adventures of western heroes are on display along with typical memorabilia associated with the period including 50-year old wallpaper and a linoleum floor with a “Hopalong Cassidy” motif.

Another exhibit, “A Youthful Acclamation” displays popular modern youth guns, recognized as part of the traditional rites of passage for many shooters. The restored Coney Island “Shooting Gallery” is up next, while the final exhibit in the youth gallery focuses on “Gas, Air & Spring Guns.”

Virtually every American boy has had an airgun at one time or another, since the advent of Daisy brand and other popularly priced products came onto the market during the first half of this century. Specimens within this exhibit also trace the development of the airgun from its military origins in Europe in the 16th century.

Among the more notable firearms on exhibit (in addition to the aforementioned wheelock once belonging to John Alden) is a Revolutionary War “Committee of Safety Musket.” Prior to the war, the colonists formed “Committees of Safety” throughout New England to train and arm forces capable of responding to an armed threat from the British within minutes of being called. On April 19, 1775, at Lexington Green in Massachusetts, these “Minutemen” used this musket and others like it to fight the first battle for independence.

There is also an air rifle on display thought to have been used by Lewis & Clark on their 1803 expedition. One of the largest exhibits details the development of the Mauser bolt-action rifle. The story of the role of firearms in the “Gold Rush” era is told through a re-creation of an assayer’s office and dry goods store with the firearms of Sam Colt and Ethan Allen.

An activist in the slavery abolition movement of the 1850’s, William Ward Beecher, a New England minister, shipped crates of Sharps Model 1853 slant-breech carbines marked “Beecher’s Bibles” to the anti-slavery forces headed by John Brown in Kansas. In 1859, Brown used these carbines to seize the U.S. Armory in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, before being beaten back by federal forces. The museum’s carbine is known to have been amongst those shipped to Brown.

The origins of the National Rifle Association itself arose from events occurring during the American Civil War. After the war, Union military officers contemplated how close the Confederacy had come to winning the conflict. They concluded the war had ended favorably for the north due to the North’s sheer numbers of men and superior resources.

Of the 650,000 casualties suffered by both sides, the South had smaller losses. Close to 65% of the men who were killed had worn Union blue. The officers further realized that as the population of the country became more urban, the tendency of citizens to use firearms lessened. Additionally, soldiers at the time were not formally trained in marksmanship and no ammunition was allocated for practice. To resolve these problems, the officers envisioned the creation of a national organization that would encourage firearm proficiency. Thus, the National Rifle Association was formed in 1873.

The museum’s floor plan is laid out to chronicle the history of firearms detailing the European development of gunpowder and the earliest matchlock and wheelock firearms are at the entrance. The role guns played in the development and exploration of the New World colonies is viewed next and the exhibits move on in time to the roles firearms have played in the most modern times at the museum’s exit.

Located about 30 minutes from Washington, D.C., the museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. but closed on major holidays. It is situated on the first floor of the NRA headquarters building at 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030. Telephone (703) 267- 1600. Admission is free.

Portions of the museum’s collection can be viewed on the Internet at: http://www.nra.org/museum1.html.

As always, SAR urges visitors to the museum to “Take a kid and drop a twenty in the donation jar” in the interest of passing on the torch of knowledge, and helping to fuel that torch. In this case, the “Donation jar” is an 8 inch Naval shell that is sort of out of the way, but worth looking for.