NRA NATIONAL FIREARMS MUSEUM
FAIRFAX, USA
Established in 1935, the National Rifle Association National Firearms Museum includes 15 galleries with 85 display cases containing 3,000 firearms.
The facility includes displays that span 700 years of firearms history, particularly emphasising the American experience. Among other displays, the galleries include information on the early European settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, the development of the gunmaking enclave in New England during the 18th and 19th centuries, and a shell damaged town square somewhere in French Normandy during World War II. The stories of the contributions of firearms to the maintenance of freedom, as well as their use in providing security and sustaining settlers in early America are told along with the processes of firearms manufacturing.
Opened in 2010, the Robert E
Petersen Gallery is considered by many to be the finest single room of guns in the world. It features rare British double rifles and shotguns, exquisitely engraved masterpieces, and the world’s largest publicly displayed collection of Gatling guns. A popular attraction is the Hollywood Guns exhibit in the William B Ruger Gallery, where 120 guns used in film and television during the last 80 years are on display, including Mel Gibson’s Beretta pistol from Lethal Weapon, Clint Eastwood’s .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson from Dirty Harry, the Barrett .50-calibre sniper rifle from The Hurt Locker, and many more.
The National Firearms Museum is open daily from 9.30am to 5pm.