Quiz question: Name the fastest-growing segment of new first-time gun owners. Here’s a hint. This group also represents the fastest-growing population of new NRA members.
One more hint. These Americans are also becoming the tip of the spear and a real force of strength in defending and advancing our Second Amendment freedom. Answer: Women. That’s right—Women of the NRA.
This isn’t our granddad’s NRA. Our Association is evolving to meet the needs of a brand new generation of gun owners—especially women. Today, more women are buying and owning more firearms than at any other time in history.
They come from rural, urban and suburban areas, span all walks of life and backgrounds, and represent a broad spectrum of political views. Whether women acquire a firearm for personal protection, hunting or for the fun of shooting, they are united by a single, extraordinary tenet—the empowerment of American freedom found only in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
No matter how they came to owning a gun and joining our organization, women have found a home at the NRA. And more than ever before, women are helping lead our growing Association. Thousands of women have taken advantage of NRA's Refuse To Be A Victim program. This life-saving course helps participants consider their personal situation and implement practical solutions to enhance safety and reduce the likelihood of being victimized at home, work—or anywhere else.
The NRA Eddie Eagle GunSafe program teaches children too young to be around firearms to never touch a gun and immediately tell an adult. Since its inception in 1988—thanks to the strong leadership of NRA’s first woman president, Marion Hammer—Eddie Eagle’s critical safety message has been taught to more than 31 million American children.
During the past year, NRA women have played a crucial role in the growth and effectiveness of the NRA School Shield program. There are more than 130,000 public and private elementary, middle and high schools in the United States. According to reputable surveys, 65 percent of these schools have experienced one or more incidents of violent criminal behavior.
Yet in today’s America, our banks, airports, office buildings and sports arenas are more secure from attack than our schools.
That’s why the NRA instituted the NRA School Shield program. Its singular mission is to protect schoolchildren in their learning environment.
NRA School Shield experts provide discrete, professional assistance to aid schools nationwide in assessing vulnerabilities and help them design their own security solutions. And it’s all available for free!
No political group, media conglomerate or the Hollywood crowd has ever offered anything like this program to protect America’s schoolchildren at no cost to their parents or their schools. That’s because funding for this effort is provided by generous donors to the NRA—thanks in large part to the women of the NRA.
Each year, at our Annual Meetings, the NRA Women’s Leadership Forum holds a “women-only” luncheon and auction. Over the years, this event has raised millions of dollars to help fund important NRA safety and education programs.
Last year in Dallas, a special appeal was made at the luncheon. Within minutes, more than $400,000 was donated directly to NRA School Shield! Since that event, NRA women have contributed another half-million dollars for NRA School Shield. The women of the NRA are now leading a nationwide effort to keep our children safe from harm.
As president of our NRA, I am proud of the fact that more women now serve on our board of directors than ever before. We’ve now had three women serve as NRA president—
Marion Hammer, Sandy Froman and Carolyn Meadows. All NRA members can take pride in their leadership.
Take some time to learn and be inspired by a new wave of NRA leaders. Visit nraWomen.tv to learn more about programs especially for women. Go to nratv.org to hear from strong voices like Dana Loesch and see real stories of personal protection and empowerment from real American women who know the true value of our firearms freedom.
For love of country and our NRA, I’m asking for your help bringing more women into our fold. As you know, my goal is to help double our membership before the all-important 2020 elections. Only a strong and historically growing NRA can muster the might and will to defeat the forces lining up against us.
As you read this, please consider amazing American women who love their freedom and believe in their Second Amendment rights.
Sign up your wife, sister, daughter, grand-daughter and niece today. Give them the special gift of membership in America’s oldest grassroots civil rights organization—the National Rifle Association.
All of us—the women and men of the NRA—must stand together so we will always be Freedom’s Safest Place.
