Ronnie Barrett
{{Short description|Founder of Barrett Firearms (born 1954)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ronnie G. Barrett
| image = Ronnie G. Barrett.jpg
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| caption = Barrett in 2009
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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age| 1954| 5|13|df=y}}
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| alma_mater = Murfreesboro Central High School
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| known_for = Barrett Firearms Manufacturing,
Barrett M82
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| boards =
| spouse = {{marriage|Donna Rowland|2010}}{{cite news |last1=Murphy |first1=Cat |title=Remarkable Rutherford Woman: Former State Rep. Donna Barrett means business |url=https://www.murfreesboropost.com/community/remarkable-rutherford-woman-former-state-rep-donna-barrett-means-business/article_9fa65f9f-e291-5802-9ffc-6c9fe01082b4.html |work=Murfreesboro,Post |publisher=MSM Publications |date=September 19, 2017}}
| partner =
| children = Chris Barrett
Angela Barrett
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Ronnie G. Barrett (born 1954) is the founder of Barrett Firearms Manufacturing of Christiana, Tennessee, board member of the National Rifle Association of America,{{Cite web |date=2014-06-09 |title=Barrett, Ronnie (Board Member) |url=https://nraontherecord.org/ronnie-barrett/ |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=NRA On the Record |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121172552/https://nraontherecord.org/ronnie-barrett/ |archive-date=November 21, 2022 |url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web |title=Barrett Firearms got its start on the dining-room table |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2008/03/17/smallb1.html |website=Nashville Business Journal |publisher=American City Business Journals |access-date=20 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103013039/http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2008/03/17/smallb1.html |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |language=en-US |date=March 13, 2008 |url-status=live}}
He started his career in 1972 as a professional photographer for a studio in the same town. 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.{{cite book |last=Clancy |first=Tom |url=https://archive.org/details/marineguidedtour00clan/page/59 |title=Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit |publisher=Berkeley Trade |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-425-15454-0 |location=Berkeley, California |pages=[https://archive.org/details/marineguidedtour00clan/page/59 59–61] |author-link=Tom Clancy}}
With no engineering background, Barrett hand-sketched plans at home for a .50BMG repeating semi-automatic rifle.{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Jack |title=The Gun Digest Book of Assault Weapons |publisher=Gun Digest Books; 7 edition |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-89689-498-3 |pages=94–97 |author-link=Jack Lewis (screenwriter)}} 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.{{cite book |author=Ian V. Hogg |author2=John S. Weeks |title=Military Small Arms of the 20th Century |year= 2000|publisher= Krause|location=Iola, WI|pages =399–400|isbn=978-0-87341-824-9 }} 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. 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. 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.{{Cite web |title=Company |url=https://barrett.net/company/ |access-date=2022-11-21 |website=Barrett Firearms |language=en-US}}
File:Ronnie Barrett Top 10 Invention Award.jpg
Barrett is an advocate for the private ownership of firearms. Barrett has headed fundraising campaigns for the National Rifle Association,{{Cite web |date=2015-04-26 |title=Barrett Firearms a great Friend of NRA |url=https://www.nrablog.com/post/2011/02/03/Barrett-Firearms-a-great-Friend-of-NRA.aspx |access-date=2022-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426050716/https://www.nrablog.com/post/2011/02/03/Barrett-Firearms-a-great-Friend-of-NRA.aspx |archive-date=2015-04-26 }} sits on its board of directors, and makes occasional appearances on the Cam & Company podcast where he speaks on gun laws.
Barrett married former Tennessee State Rep. Donna Rowland in 2010.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.barrett.net Barrett Firearms Official Website]
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