Ronnie Barrett
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for clobbered parameters".Template:Wikidata image Ronnie G. Barrett (born 1954) is the founder of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing of Christiana, Tennessee, board member of the National Rifle Association of America,[1] and the designer of the Barrett M82.
Life and career
Barrett was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1954, and graduated from Murfreesboro Central High School.[2] He started his career in 1972 as a professional photographer for a studio in the same town.[2] In 1982, while he owned a photography studio, he was inspired to create the Barrett M82. On January 1, 1982, when Barrett was photographing a river patrol gunboat on the Stones River near Nashville, Tennessee, a picture he shot of the twin Browning machine guns mounted prominently on the boat made him think of the .50 BMG cartridge and its potential for commercial users.[3]
With no engineering background, Barrett hand-sketched plans at home for a .50BMG repeating semi-automatic rifle.[4] Later, he found a partner in tool and die maker Bob Mitchell and an employee at a sheet metal fabricator in Smyrna, Tennessee. Four months later a prototype was finished.[5] A second prototype shown off at a gun show in Houston would garner starting capital for Barrett from three investors, necessary for the Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company and production of the first 30 rifles for private use.[4] Large-scale commercial success came when the CIA acquired an unknown number of rifles for arming the Afghan mujahideen as part of the Soviet–Afghan War effort.[3] In 1989, the Swedish Army adopted the M82 as a sniper rifle. In 1990, the United States Armed Forces followed, and subsequently deployed the rifles during Operation Desert storm.[6]
Barrett is an advocate for the private ownership of firearms. Barrett has headed fundraising campaigns for the National Rifle Association,[7] sits on its board of directors,[1] and makes occasional appearances on the Cam & Company podcast where he speaks on gun laws.[1]
Barrett married former Tennessee State Rep. Donna Rowland in 2010.[8]
References
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