INSIDER'S GUIDE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32961-2000Oct8.html
Sunday , October 8, 2000 ; Page F03
If the bumper sticker on your car eschews Gore, Bush and Nader and says "My President is Charlton Heston!," chances are you've already been to the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax.
If, on the other hand, the only Winchester you're familiar with is the Virginia town with the Apple Blossom parade, and when you think of stocks you think only of Wall Street, then it might
behoove you pay a visit. An afternoon in the museum is a superbly curated trip through the history of things that go boom, an instant education.
If, on the other other hand, the idea of walking into the ominous blue-glass headquarters of the mighty National Rifle Association gives you the heebie-jeebies, then perhaps you'd best stay on the
Mall. A visit to a museum full of guns might give you hives.
There are more than 2,000 firearms here, safely encased in glass and documented with mounted text. Several computer terminals give details about specific artifacts in the 14 galleries and 82
exhibits.
The horseshoe-shaped system of self-guiding corridors--buy the $1.50 museum guide for a better visit--begins with an orientation gallery that gives a brief history of the origins of the NRA. (Oh,
things were so benign then, in the days after the Civil War, when the NRA just wanted to teach people about guns.)
Step through the double-glass doors and you encounter a dazzling armory dating back to 1350 (a hand-forged hand cannon used to attack castles) and smartly sequenced thereafter along
significant American social milestones.
Just look at what's on display: Snaphaunces! Doglocks! Miquelets! Remingtons! Lugers! Mausers! Garands! Colts! Smith & Wessons! Thompson (as in Tommy) guns!
What an arsenal! The rifles and pistols are neatly mounted in rows of burnished wood and gleaming metal. Some are works of art, with hammered gilt, carved ivory and mother-of-pearl inlays.
There's even whimsy: A recreation of a 1950s boy's bedroom, complete with Hopalong Cassidy cowboy linoleum. There are metal cap guns on the bed, and a rack of BB guns on the wall. The
kid's got a Boy Scout marksmanship manual. We can tell his Mom wasn't one of the Million in last year's March.
Across the aisle is a 1903 shooting gallery from Coney Island, one of only three left; get close enough and it automatically clangs to life. A case of air rifles at the front of the display tempts the
visitor to take potshots, but alas, there's no ammo. (Don't you hate it when that happens?)
Bullets are not the only thing absent, unless we missed it. We didn't see an Uzi, but there are plenty of automatic weapons, most impressively the futuristic ones in the Desert Storm collection.
By the way, you can buy the Charlton Heston bumper sticker in the gift shop for $1. And the good news? There's no mandatory waiting period.
The National Firearms Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except major holidays. Admission is free. From the Washington beltway (I-495), take I-66 west to Exit 57-A onto U.S.
Route 50 East toward Fairfax. Turn left at the first traffic light, onto Waples Mill Road. The blue and white NRA Headquarters building will be on your right. For additional information, call (703)
267-1600.
--Buzz McClain, Reston
Submit items (accompanied by address and daytime phone) via: e-mail (shrodert@washpost.com); fax (202-334-5587); Mail (Insider's Guide, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071). No
items promoting personal business interests accepted.
© 2000 The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32961-2000Oct8.html
Sunday , October 8, 2000 ; Page F03
If the bumper sticker on your car eschews Gore, Bush and Nader and says "My President is Charlton Heston!," chances are you've already been to the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax.
If, on the other hand, the only Winchester you're familiar with is the Virginia town with the Apple Blossom parade, and when you think of stocks you think only of Wall Street, then it might
behoove you pay a visit. An afternoon in the museum is a superbly curated trip through the history of things that go boom, an instant education.
If, on the other other hand, the idea of walking into the ominous blue-glass headquarters of the mighty National Rifle Association gives you the heebie-jeebies, then perhaps you'd best stay on the
Mall. A visit to a museum full of guns might give you hives.
There are more than 2,000 firearms here, safely encased in glass and documented with mounted text. Several computer terminals give details about specific artifacts in the 14 galleries and 82
exhibits.
The horseshoe-shaped system of self-guiding corridors--buy the $1.50 museum guide for a better visit--begins with an orientation gallery that gives a brief history of the origins of the NRA. (Oh,
things were so benign then, in the days after the Civil War, when the NRA just wanted to teach people about guns.)
Step through the double-glass doors and you encounter a dazzling armory dating back to 1350 (a hand-forged hand cannon used to attack castles) and smartly sequenced thereafter along
significant American social milestones.
Just look at what's on display: Snaphaunces! Doglocks! Miquelets! Remingtons! Lugers! Mausers! Garands! Colts! Smith & Wessons! Thompson (as in Tommy) guns!
What an arsenal! The rifles and pistols are neatly mounted in rows of burnished wood and gleaming metal. Some are works of art, with hammered gilt, carved ivory and mother-of-pearl inlays.
There's even whimsy: A recreation of a 1950s boy's bedroom, complete with Hopalong Cassidy cowboy linoleum. There are metal cap guns on the bed, and a rack of BB guns on the wall. The
kid's got a Boy Scout marksmanship manual. We can tell his Mom wasn't one of the Million in last year's March.
Across the aisle is a 1903 shooting gallery from Coney Island, one of only three left; get close enough and it automatically clangs to life. A case of air rifles at the front of the display tempts the
visitor to take potshots, but alas, there's no ammo. (Don't you hate it when that happens?)
Bullets are not the only thing absent, unless we missed it. We didn't see an Uzi, but there are plenty of automatic weapons, most impressively the futuristic ones in the Desert Storm collection.
By the way, you can buy the Charlton Heston bumper sticker in the gift shop for $1. And the good news? There's no mandatory waiting period.
The National Firearms Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except major holidays. Admission is free. From the Washington beltway (I-495), take I-66 west to Exit 57-A onto U.S.
Route 50 East toward Fairfax. Turn left at the first traffic light, onto Waples Mill Road. The blue and white NRA Headquarters building will be on your right. For additional information, call (703)
267-1600.
--Buzz McClain, Reston
Submit items (accompanied by address and daytime phone) via: e-mail (shrodert@washpost.com); fax (202-334-5587); Mail (Insider's Guide, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071). No
items promoting personal business interests accepted.
© 2000 The Washington Post