NRA to open museum inside Springfield Bass Pro

The National Rifle Association is scheduled next month to open a museum inside Bass Pro Shops' Springfield Outdoor World.

The NRA National Sporting Arms Museum resides in roughly 7,500 square feet inside the company's flagship store at 1935 S. Campbell Ave. It is slated to open Aug. 2, according to a news release.

“Featuring treasured guns from the NRA collection, along with special exhibits from Remington and others, this museum promises to showcase a sporting arms collection the world has never seen," said Jim Supica, NRA museum director, in the release.

The museum would showcase more than 1,000 guns, including original prototypes and paintings from Remington Arms Co., shotguns from the American Trapshooting Association's Hall of fame and the full collection of guns belonging to the Pachmayr Foundation. According to its website, the museum houses more than $20 million worth of firearms.

"They’ll see firearms that figure significantly in the history of our country and trace the evolution of hunting and conservation,” Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris said in the release. “This museum houses a fantastic collection, from the firearms of Theodore Roosevelt and John Wayne to historic U.S. military pistols and engraved Colt revolvers of the Old West."

The museum's hours are slated to be 10 a.m-7 p.m. seven days a week. Admission is free.[[In-content Ad]]