NRA Range, National Firearms Museum Named To Fairfax Business Hall of Fame

The NRA Range and National Firearms Museum, two long-standing fan-favorite institutions at NRA Headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, have been inducted into the Fairfax Business Hall of Fame.

Both the range and the museum have earned multiple Best of Fairfax awards, qualifying them for the honor via the Fairfax Award Program. 

Each year, the Fairfax Award Program identifies companies that “have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category.” Award recipients enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and the community, which “make Fairfax area a great place to live, work and play,” according to the program’s media release.

The NRA Range is one of the nation’s premier family-friendly indoor shooting facilities. The 50-yard, wheelchair-accessible range is open to all NRA members and the general public. Featuring 15 shooting booths, the range has ample room for pistol, rifle, and shotgun shooting, and is often used for NRA Firearm Training courses, junior shooting programs, NRA instructor courses, shooting clinics, private events, and many other activities. 

“It’s an absolute honor to be named to the Fairfax Business Hall of Fame, and the staff at the NRA Range is proud to be part of an organization so highly regarded by those in our community. It is our goal to provide a world-class recreational shooting and training facility to one of the largest and most diverse markets in the country,” said Michael Johns, NRA Range General Manager. “Our NRA Range Safety Officers strive to improve the experience shooters of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels have at our range. We want our guests to have a safe, enjoyable and enriching time on every visit.” 

The NRA National Firearms Museum 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. 

Each gallery is evocative of a period of time in American history, from the stockade fort at Jamestown to the gun factories of New England. Life-sized dioramas include a nineteenth-century riflemaker's shop, a trench on the Western Front in World War I, and a shelled-out town square in Normandy in World War II. 

The firearms tell the stories of how they were used to provide security and sustenance to the early colonists, how they were used to secure our freedom and independence, and have been used ever since to maintain and preserve those liberties. Within the galleries are also tales of exploration, manufacturing, competition, hunting, and recreational shooting sports.

The National Firearms Museum curators even designed the museum to incorporate history and social studies material included in the Virginia state Standards of Learning standardized test administered to school students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. The museum’s galleries cover 65 percent of the commonwealth’s K-12 curriculum, and schools can contact the museum to arrange free visits and guided tours for classes. 

“The NRA National Firearms Museum prides itself on being one of the nation’s finest historical and educational institutions, and counted amongst the world’s best collections of firearms and associated artifacts,” said Jim Supica, Director of NRA Museums. “Our dedicated team of curators and experts at the museum is excited to be considered one of Fairfax’s best institutions year after year, and we look forward to continuing this tradition of excellence and partnership.”