Charles Bayard Lister (July 4, 1898 – May 14, 1951) was an American firearms expert who was an officer of the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

from 1926 to 1951.

Early life

Lister was born on July 4, 1898, in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

to James W. and Florence (Carson) Lister. He became involved in sports shooting while a member of the

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

. After graduating from Wilmington High School, he worked under Kellogg Casey in the sales and promotions department of

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

. In 1917, Lister joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and remained there until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. On October 22, 1919, he married Lynette Harper. They had one daughter.

National Rifle Association

In 1921, Lister moved to

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to become the advertising and promotion manager of the National Rifle Association. He recommended expanding NRA membership outside the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

and state militias and under his leadership, membership grew from 3,500 in 1921 to over 10,000 in 1925. In 1926, he became the organization's secretary–treasurer and led a drive that increased membership to 350,000 by 1945. He also served as editor of the NRA's monthly magazine, the ''

American Rifleman ''American Rifleman'' is a United States–based monthly shooting and firearms interest publication, owned by the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). It is the 33rd-most-widely-distributed consumer magazine and the NRA's primary magaz ...

'', was a contributor to the

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

, and edited the sections on rifles and marksmanship in

Webster's International Dictionary ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

. He was a leader in the fight against laws restricting firearm ownership, but did support some gun control measurers, including the

National Firearms Act The National Firearms Act (NFA), 73rd Congress, Sess. 2, ch. 757, was enacted on June 26, 1934, and currently codified and amended as . The law is an Act of Congress in the United States that, in general, imposes an excise tax on the manufact ...

and the

Federal Firearms Act of 1938 The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 (FFA) imposed a federal license requirement on gun manufacturers, importers, and persons in the business of selling firearms. The term federal firearms licensee (FFL) is used to refer to those on whom the license ...

. Due to a prior bout of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

, Lister was rejected for active military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He instead served as the national coordinator of rifle shooting in the

Office of Civilian Defense Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941, by to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency. Its two branches supervised protective function ...

. He also helped draft the first manual on home guard organization. In 1949, Lister succeeded the retiring Milton Reckord as executive director of the NRA. He died of brain cancer on May 14, 1951, at the Washington Sanitarium. He was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

. Following his death, a memorial trophy was presented. Since 1952 it has been awarded for the National Indoor Sectional-National Smallbore Rifle Champion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lister, C. B 1898 births 1951 deaths American magazine editors Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Contributors to the Encyclopædia Britannica Deaths from brain cancer in Washington, D.C. Executive vice presidents of the National Rifle Association DuPont people 20th-century people from Washington, D.C. People from Wilmington, Delaware United States Army personnel of World War I