NRA Museums join Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day Live! Event Sept. 24

The NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia and the National Sporting Arms Museum in Springfield, Missouri, will participate in Smithsonian magazine's 12th annual “Museum Day Live!” Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016.

Museum Day Live! is an annual celebration of museums and cultural institutions across the United States hosted by Smithsonian magazine, representing the Smithsonian’s commitment to helping everyone have access to educational, historical and cultural resources to promote learning and enrichment.

Participating museums will offer free admission, and while both the NRA National Firearms Museum and National Sporting Arms Museum always offers free entry, joining the program helps introduce more museum-goers to the wealth of firearms history available in each museum.

“NRA Museums strive to be a valued partner in the communities in which we are established," said Philip Schreier, NRA Museums Senior Curator. "Museum Day Live! is one of those events where we welcome and encourage the public to get out and explore something new in their own backyard.”

The NRA National Firearms Museum, located at the National Rifle Association's headquarters, consists of 15 galleries comprised of 85 exhibit cases housing 3,000 firearms in a 15,000 square-foot facility. The museum details and examines the nearly 700-year history of firearms with a special emphasis on firearms, freedom and the American experience. 

The National Sporting Arms Museum, inside Springfield's Bass Pro Shops location, celebrates the history of hunting, conservation and freedom. Those who visit the museum can trace the development and evolution of hunting arms in America from pre-Colonial times to the present. Museum-goers can expect to see nearly 1,000 historically significant firearms.

Last year’s Museum Day Live! event drew more than 200,000 participants, and this year’s event is expected to attract even more visitors to participating museums nationwide.

To reserve Museum Day Live! tickets to either museum on Sept. 24 or learn more about the nationwide event, visit http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/museum-day-live-2016. For more information about the NRA Museums, visit http://www.nramuseum.com.