Nation's military history told through firearms

VFW Magazine, April, 2003 by John Robbins

The National Firearms Museum, based in Virginia and sponsored by the National Rifle Association, displays 2,000 firearms in 85 exhibits in 14 galleries. The 15,000-square-foot museum is divided into interests and eras. Of particular interest to veterans are the sections on America's wars: Revolutionary, 1812, Texas Independence, Mexican, Civil, Indian, Spanish-American, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Persian Gulf.

As NRA National Firearms Museum Assistant Curator Karin Johnston put it, "It's an American history lesson here, regardless of your feelings about firearms."

Indeed it is. So see "freedom's firearms"--the weapons that won and assured our nation's independence from 1607 to 1991--firsthand.

The War of 1812 is well-represented by an assortment of muskets and flintlock pistols manufactured at the Harpers Ferry Armory.

Flintlocks from the Revolutionary War (1775-1782) surround portraits of founding fathers Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington (America's foremost veteran).

Australian soldiers and Doughboys of the U.S. 27th Infantry Division served together in France's trenches during 1917-18. Various WWI machine guns and rifles are displayed in this front-line scene.

A mannequin of a black "Buffalo Soldier," different hunting rifles and weapons and cavalry accoutrements round out the exhibit on the Western frontier. Arms there were a part of daily life.

GIs of the 116th Inf. Regt., 29th Div., are positioned at a command post along Omaha Beach in June 1944. They are examining a store of captured German weapons and equipment.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about the museum, contact: National Firearms Museum, NRA Headquarters Building, 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030. (703) 267-1600.