The National Firearms Museum has long been the pride of the National Rifle Association, and serves a a national draw to its Fairfax, Va. headquarters. Located beneath the organization's office complex, also complete with a cafe and shooting range, the museum sprawls some 15,000 sq.-ft., encompassing some 85 exhibit cases and more than 3,000 firearms. In this video, NRA Museums director Phil Schreier looks to update the public on the status of the museum, as well as to dispel any rumors surrounding the selling of any of the museum's invaluable firearms.
"We were closed for a couple of years during COVID, but despite what you might read on the Internet, we're open for business again, and have been for over two years," Schreier said. "And again, pay no attention to the nattering nabobs of negativism that you encounter online. Everything that was here in the museum when you last saw it before COVID is still here today. There are no holes in the gallery. In fact, we've added two new exhibit galleries while we were gone."
The museum is home to a variety of exceptional exhibits, including the Robert E. Petersen Gallery. Considered by many to be the "finest single room of guns anywhere in the world," it boasts top-quality sporting arms, as well as a number of historically significant pieces. It even contains the largest single collection of Gatling guns on public display.
In terms of missing firearms, Phil reiterates that none have been sold out of the museum in his 35-year tenure. That said, some guns on loan have been returned to their owners, though Phil himself has been instrumental in keeping quite a few of these. A recent loan of near 200 guns was recalled, but after Phil begged to keep at least a few on display, 100 were gifted to the museum and retained.
The National Firearms Museum is located at 11250 Waples Mill Road in Fairfax, Va., and is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to all. For details on the museum's locations and exhibits, visit the NRA Museum website here.
