NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

(NRA) governing organization for the sport of shooting with rifles and pistols, formed in the United States in 1871. By the early 1990s it claimed a membership of about 3 million target shooters, hunters, gun collectors, gunsmiths, police, and others interested in firearms. Among the NRA's more publicized activities in the second half of the 20th century was highly effective political lobbying against various legislative proposals for the control of firearms. The American NRA was modeled after the National Rifle Association in Great Britain, which had been formed in 1860. Both the British and U.S. groups sponsor regional and national competitions and select teams for international events. The British NRA has its headquarters at Woking, Surrey, the American in Fairfax, Va.