People & firearms history
Profiles of the inventors, designers, hunters, competitors, advocates, and other people whose lives and work shaped firearms history.
Photo: Unknown photographer; Browning family collection via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Inventor and designer
Known for A Utah gunsmith and prolific designer whose patents shaped the modern rifle, pistol, and machine gun.
Read about John Moses Browning
Photo: Matthew Brady; 19th-century engraving via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Inventor and industrialist
Known for An inventor and industrialist who turned a repeating pistol into a global firearms brand.
Read about Samuel Colt
Photo: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Markswoman and performer
Known for A professional markswoman who turned extraordinary rifle and shotgun skill into a global stage career.
Read about Annie Oakley
Photo: 20th Century Fox studios via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain in the U.S..
Actor and advocate
Known for An actor and public figure whose NRA leadership made him one of the most recognizable voices in modern American gun-rights politics.
Read about Charlton Heston
Photo: National Park Service photo via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Engineer and rifle designer
Known for The Springfield Armory engineer whose M1 rifle became the first standard-issue semiautomatic rifle adopted by a major world power.
Read about John C. Garand
Photo: National Archives; Department of Defense, Office of the Chief Signal Officer via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
President, hunter, and conservationist
Known for A president, soldier, hunter, and conservationist whose writing connected rifles, fieldcraft, public life, and the American outdoors.
Read about Theodore Roosevelt