National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice in the United States

Background

“The creation of the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice was a small event for the War Department .. the President and his staff sought ways to build a military that would effectively and efficiently defend the homeland and protect American interests abroad. Toward that end, Secretary Root began to reorganize the War Department. … The Board was a War Department agency assigned the responsibility to monitor and manage the nation’s marksmanship programs.”

From the Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Army, (“Records of the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice,” Item No. 335.11.1, National Archives),the Board had been established to help the rifle practice of American citizens: “Established by General Order 61, War Department, April 27, 1903, pursuant to the 1904 Army Appropriations Act (32 Stat. 941), March 2, 1903, providing for annual rifle matches for civilians. Duties have included instruction of citizens in small arms marksmanship; issuance of weapons and ammunition to organizations offering small arms training to civilians; and construction, equipment, and maintenance of rifle ranges.” (Marlin, Jeffrey A., “The National Guard, the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice, and the National Rifle Association: Public Institutions and the Rise of a Lobby for Private Gun Ownership” (2013). History Dissertations. Paper 33.)

National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice Beginns

The first meeting of the Board was celebrated with the presence of Assistant Secretary Sanger and 17 of the 22 members appointed by Secretary Root.

On April 27, 1903, it was published the War Department General Order No. 61 to formalize the first meeting report.

The Board elected Assistant Secretary Sanger and NRA President Spencer as president and vice president respectively.

The report, in some way, tried to achieve the Spencer’s aims in his letter of January 25, 1902 to Secretary Root “regarding the enlargement and scope of the National Rifle Association and its influence upon rifle practice generally in the country.”

The report also included the following: “Attention is invited to the fact that the board having received verbal instructions from you that it was your desire that it should consider any questions relating to the development of rifle shooting throughout the country, the board has submitted certain general recommendations which do not bear directly upon the contest for the national trophy, but which are believed to be in line with your instructions.”

Developments

Later, the Board intended to ask Congress for funds for a model range, “which shall be accessible to regulars and the national militia and the rifle organizations which are eligible to compete for the various prizes.” These funds were asked in relation with the new militia law “which contemplates closer alliance of the  regulars and the national guardsmen, especially in the matter of marksmanship.”

In a Board’s meeting “a motion was made that there be appointed a committee for the promotion of rifle practice.”