November 10, 2025

America’s Firearm Manufacturing Salutes Over 250 Years of Veterans Serving

By Mark Oliva

Though it might sound odd, American veterans have been serving this nation even before there was a nation. The U.S. Army and Navy both celebrated their 250^th birthdays earlier this year. My beloved U.S. Marine Corps — of which I dedicated 25 years in uniform to serving — celebrates 250 years on November 10.

The nation has seen her patriots answering the call-to-arms for two and a half centuries and America’s firearm manufacturers have been there with them since the beginning. This Veterans Day, NSSF – The Firearm Industry Trade Association, salutes those who have worn, continue to wear and will wear the uniform and take up arms in defense of this grand experiment we call the United States of America.

Veterans Before a Nation

America’s earliest veterans, those men (and yes, women), came from small farms, towns and cities to shake off a tyrant king. They gathered at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, and touched off the “shot heard round the world.” Those earliest veterans, the Minutemen local militia under the command of Capt. John Parker, faced off against a numerically superior, better equipped and trained force of British regulars.

Ironically, the British were on a mission to confiscate arms and gunpowder stored in the two towns. That was, until they met Americans willing to stand for freedom. Those earliest veterans likely carried guns made by craftsmen gunsmiths. Capt. John Parker’s rifle was a flintlock fowling gun, which is still on display at the Massachusetts Statehouse.

Early Patriots mostly carried the Brown Bess or Charleville Rifles, both of foreign origin. General George Washington established the “Arsenal at Springfield” in 1777, later known as Springfield Armory in Massachusetts. In 1795, it went from storing guns to producing them with the 1795 Springfield Flintlock Infantry Musket, just a year after now-President Washington ordered the arsenal to become a full-fledged armory.

American Manufacturers

Ever since, America’s firearm manufacturers have been making the arms our military has carried into war. Eliphalet Remington founded his namesake company, the Remington Arms Company, in Ilion, New York. Samuel Colt built his first factory in Paterson, N.J., to produce the Paterson revolver in 1836. In 1852, Horace Smith and D.B. Wesson formed a partnership to manufacture the first firearm to fire a fully-self-contained cartridge.

Today, companies including FN America, SIG SAUER, U.S. Ordnance and Daniel Defense are among those supplying small arms to the U.S. military. American ammunition is produced by Olin Winchester, The Kinetic Group and others.

Veterans in Our Industry

Many of today’s firearm and ammunition factories are staffed and led by veterans. The firearms and ammunition produced for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment rights are also made by those manufacturers who are providing the tools to our warfighters. They’ve been carried into battles from America’s Revolutionary War, through the War on Terror fought in both Iraq and Afghanistan. They’ve been relied upon in countless battlefields in between.

Our industry knows that freedom is priceless. Freedom, however, does have a cost. For many of us, we know there are those who paid that cost for us. There are those among us who carry scars, seen and unseen, of that terrible burden. That’s why we, as an industry, commit ourselves to continuing to care for those who served our nation. We are steadfast in our suicide prevention efforts. Our industry’s outreach to veterans continues through Honored American Veterans Afield (HAVA), to connect veterans with one another and the resources they need to enter new chapters of their lives after service.

America’s firearm industry is proud to know that today’s warriors are equal to those who have answered our nation’s call for over 250 years. We are proud that our products are the tools these warfighters use to defend freedom. There are thousands of veterans in our industry who remind us just how fortunate we are that they chose to defend freedom. We are inspired by their selflessness. We enjoy liberty because of their dedication to our nation.

On this Veterans Day, we celebrate 250 years of these very special men and women.

About the Author
Mark Oliva is Managing Director of Public Affairs for NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association. He is a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant with 25 years of service, including tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Albania, and Zaire.