by James C. Fulmer | Past President, NMLRA
“As much as you enjoy our celebration of the Second Amendment and the freedom we hold dear, let this weekend rejuvenate your commitment to defending our freedom.” Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President NRA.
That was an excerpt from a letter to the National Rifle Association membership in the front of the program book for the 145th NRA Annual Meetings and Events. This year’s meeting took place May 19-22, 2016, in Louisville, KY.
That excerpt means a lot to me and the people of the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association. On the cover of every Muzzle Blasts magazine you will read, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This is the Second Amendment to the Constitution; this is what we need to learn how to defend better when it comes to the war of words. While I was in the press room at the NRA convention, I found on the table a Politically Corrected Glossary by Alan Korwin. You can read more at GunLaws.com. It is a great read for everybody because its simple truths are easy to remember and say. Here is one of my favorites: When they say, “Assault weapons are bad.” You can respond: “Assault is a type of behavior.”
As gunowners our lives have been changed forever due to the fact that we can no longer be complacent or submissive in talking to people who are anti-self-defense, anti-Bill of Rights, and have dangerous utopian ideas where no one needs a firearm. Educate yourself and your family. Read more and know your subject. If we don’t teach people about our constitutional rights who will?
Master Engraver John Schippers demonstrating engraving at the NMLRA booth at the NRA convention.
The NMLRA has maintained an exhibit at the NRA annual meeting every year since I can remember. With almost 20 volunteers to staff the booth over the three-day event, we were still busy. The booth featured many different types of muzzleloaders. There was a matchlock, a wheel-lock, a muzzleloading air rifle, a swivel breech, a Blue Mountain Bench gun, a scoped in-line, and the reproduction of the Indiana State Rifle (the Grouseland Rifle) by Marvin Kemper. Marvin built the stunning reproduction flintlock that was owned by William Henry Harrison. A big thank you goes to Marvin for bringing the rifle. Also, many thanks go to all the other members who brought their personnel muzzleloaders to put on display. All of them were great guns. They stopped people long enough to look at them and talk about the NMLRA.
Master Engraver John Schippers was also in the NMLRA booth engraving from the beginning of the show until the end. His beautiful engraving caught the attention of many people and gave him the opportunity to talk about what he was demonstrating, and about the NMLRA. He is the author of Engraving Historic Firearms. If you were to buy only one book on engraving that would be the one to buy.
The NMLRA display was one of its best. Here we recruited new NMLRA members from the like-minded crowd. We seem to find people who are avid muzzleloaders that have never heard of NMLRA before. They are the hunters who use the muzzleloader as a way to extend their time in the woods. Here is where we can showcase Muzzle Blasts magazine, because for many it will be the first time they have ever seen a copy. Muzzle Blasts is currently one of the largest monthly muzzleloading publications in the world.
Allie Nunn (right), the youngest NMLRA director in the history of the Association, standing in front of the NMLRA booth recruiting members and answering questions.
Other reasons the NMLRA goes to the NRA annual meeting are to visit with many of the other exhibitors and to support the National Rifle Association. This year among the exhibitors I had the privilege of meeting was Jim Kirkland’s wife Tanya. Jim is the general manager and exclusive distributor for Schuetzen, Wano, and Swiss Black Powder. This year was the first year they were able to come to the NRA show together (the kids are finally old enough). Jim is an avid blackpowder shooter himself and always has stories to tell when you stop by his booth at the show. One of the new products he is handling is winged musket caps for the Civil War muskets and some of the modern muzzleloaders which shoot musket caps.
It was good to see Val Forgett, III, president of Navy Arms, at the exhibits. I started shooting muzzleloaders with a copy of an 1863 Remington Zouave his father imported into this country. Val has done a lot with all kinds of firearms from cartridge guns for Cowboy Action shooting to bringing back the Civil War muskets for North/South Skirmish Team competitions. Navy Arms’ Parker-Hale Enfields have always been some of the most accurate firearms. I have watched the Parker-Hale Volunteer Rifle win a muzzleloading bench rest match shooting against bench guns that weighed up to 30 pounds. But his pride and joy is the Whitworth Rifle with its hand-forged .451 hexagonal-bored barrel. I have seen them shoot at 500 yards and hit a two foot square plate every time on a windless day.
Dixie Gun Works has a booth at the show and they always bring interesting muzzleloading firearms to display. This year they had a Gatlin gun which always seemed to draw a crowd. If you go to an NRA convention, you need to visit the Dixie Gun Works booth.
The beauty of the NRA Meetings and Exhibits is it does move around to different areas of the country. Last year it was in Nashville, TN, this year Louisville, KY, next year Atlanta, GA. Make plans to go to Atlanta for next year’s NRA annual meeting. I guarantee it will get you excited about what we do.
