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Professor of History David Raney was elected to a three-year term on the board of the National Rifle Association and will be sworn in on Saturday, April 15, with duties beginning the following Monday.

Raney has taught at Hillsdale for almost thirty years and has written extensively about firearms and the Second Amendment.

I began teaching at Hillsdale in 2005, Raney said. In 2013, the college awarded me an endowed chair the John Anthony Halter Chair in American History, the Constitution, and the Second Amendment.

Raney has also lectured on the Second Amendment for various Hillsdale summer programs.

I lecture every summer for the firearms/Second Amendment-themed Liberty & Learning Youth Conference, sponsored by the Admissions office, he said. I also speak for the Institutional Advancement offices Ladies for Liberty and Couples for Liberty programs each summer.

At a young age, Raney became involved with the NRA.

I decided to join at the ripe old age of 14, he said. I scraped together money from a paper route that I had.

Raney said he became a lifetime member in college and a benefactor member the highest tier in the 1990s.

As a board member, Raney said he will have the opportunity to serve on at least one of various committees ranging from legislative policy to college programs.

Before I was elected to the board, I was asked to serve on the Collegiate Programs Committee which deals with shooting programs and college competitions, Raney said.

Raney said he would like to remain on that committee but would also like to explore the popular legislative policy committee.

Everyone wants to be on that one, he said. Some nationally known politicians are members of that committee, and they know a thing or two about legislation. Its a hard committee to break into.

Raney said he appreciates both the history and the purpose of the NRA.

Its the oldest nationwide civil rights organization in the country, he said. It was founded in 1871 by Union veterans and was primarily oriented toward improving marksmanship skills on the part of the citizenry.

During the second half of the 20th century, the NRA began to focus more on protecting Second Amendment rights, according to Raney.

The NRA has the name recognition and the ability to mobilize resources to defeat these serious challenges to the right to bear arms, Raney said.

Students said they are excited to have a Hillsdale professor on the NRA board.

He really understands the history of the right to bear arms in America and cares a lot about protecting that right in alignment with the Constitution and the Founders ideals, said Hannah Tully, a freshman in Raneys American Heritage class.

Another freshman from Raneys American Heritage class, Porter Jihaad, said Raneys knowledge of the Constitution prepared him for the board position.

Dr. Raneys passion and vast knowledge of the American Constitution and early American history make him, in my view, more than qualified for the job, Jihaad said.

Students outside Raneys classes said they are excited as well.

It shows how our faculty overall are very supportive of originalist interpretations of the constitution, said Anna Teply, a freshman who has become involved with the colleges shooting center.

Raney encourages students who are passionate about the Second Amendment to consider becoming involved with the NRA..

You have to protect the means by which you secure that right to life, and that means is the ability to possess and to carry firearms for your own self defense, he said. Its my hope that students would appreciate that, and I would encourage them to seek out additional information about the association.

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Professor appointed to board of NRA - Hillsdale Collegian