Outlet profile

American Rifleman (NRA)

U.S. right, pro-gun advocacy

Owned byNational Rifle Association of America (NRA), a nonprofit membership and advocacy organization

FundingPrimarily funded through NRA membership dues — the magazine is distributed as a benefit of NRA membership. Additional revenue comes from advertising and paid subscriptions. The NRA itself is funded by member dues, corporate sponsors (largely the firearms industry), and donations.

On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

The magazine traces its origins to 1885, when Arthur Corbin Gould founded a publication called The Rifle to promote the sport of rifle shooting. It changed names multiple times — to Shooting and Fishing in 1888, then to Arms and the Man — before being sold to the NRA in 1916 for $1. In 1923, it took its current name, American Rifleman. Distributed free to NRA members as a membership benefit, the magazine grew its circulation to over 30,000 early on and eventually reached approximately 2.2 million readers by 2013, making it one of the largest-circulation magazines in the United States. Since the 1960s, the magazine shifted from a focus on marksmanship and outdoor sports toward political advocacy around gun rights, particularly as federal firearms legislation became more prominent. The NRA and its publications faced serious institutional turbulence in the late 2010s and early 2020s, including an attempted bankruptcy filing in 2021 (later dismissed as bad faith), a lawsuit by the New York Attorney General, and a court finding that the organization and former CEO Wayne LaPierre were liable for financial misconduct. Membership dues declined sharply, falling from over $83 million in 2022 to $62 million in 2023. In early 2026, American Rifleman announced a shift to a quarterly print schedule with a monthly digital edition, reflecting the broader pressures on print media. Throughout its modern history, the magazine has consistently promoted gun ownership, opposed most firearms regulations, and editorially aligned with Republican politicians who support an expansive reading of the Second Amendment.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-06-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

← Back to track record