As NRA Leadership Fight Spills Into Public, N.Y. Attorney General Opens Investigation

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4. 1977 Revolt in Cincinnati

NRA: 'Revolt at Cincinnati' molded National Rifle Association

The incident is known as the Revolt at Cincinnati. A group of reformers, led by former NRA President Harlon Carter and outspoken gun-rights advocate Neal Knox, brewed tension inside the organization over the leadership's wavering stance on gun control.

About 30,000 delegates attended the annual meeting May 21, 1977. Reformers wore blaze orange hunting caps and communicated via walkie-talkie around the convention floor. The NRAleaders shut off the air conditioning to discourage them.

Still, the NRA was mostly for sportsmen, and Rich even testified to Congress in support of a ban on inexpensive handguns known as "Saturday night specials." Then began the internal strife.

In 1975, the NRA formed the Institute for Legislative Action, a lobbying group headed by Carter, but there was little funding. The NRA board really hoped to tone down the politics to attract donors like the Ford Foundation to fund a $27 million conservation and recreation center in Raton, N.M. They also voted to move their headquarters to Colorado Springs, Colo., away from the politics in Washington, D.C.

The conflict culminated in the 1977 revolt.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/08/revolt-cincinnati-molded-nra-did-you-know-jeff-suess-schism-within-national-rifle-association-led/404628002/