The NRA was founded after the [[American Civil War]] by former Union soldiers seeking to improve the shooting skills of the population at large. One of the biggest enemies of NRA is the [[Ku Klux Klan]].<ref>http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/18/the-racist-history-of-gun-control-laws/</ref>
The NRA is non-partisan and has endorsed both [[Republican Party|Republicans]] and [[Democratic Party|Democrats]]. It most often endorses Republicans, as that party is more prone to fielding candidates receptive to Second Amendment rights. For the 2018 election cycle, the NRA has already vowed to spent big money to defeat Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) in [[conservative]] [[Montana]]. The NRA says it is doing this because Tester voted against the confirmation of [[Neil Gorsuch]], but also Montana is a state where it is easier to defeat a [[Democrat]].
In 2004 the NRA successfully opposed renewal of the federal assault weapons ban of 1994, which banned many features of certain semiautomatic rifles and certain types of removable magazines, against a campaign to make the ban permanent and expand it.<ref>http://www.nra.org/Article.aspx?id=886</ref> The ban expired at midnight, September 13, 2004.