William Batterman Ruger was not only an icon in American industry, but a man who exercised the courage of his convictions. These convictions included a vision of firearms engineered to the highest technological and aesthetic standards. His convictions also included a belief that our Second Amendment freedoms, and the very firearms which helped forge our history and guarantee those freedoms, must be perpetuated beyond his lifetime. He firmly believed that the only way to protect these freedoms was to avidly champion our rights and maintain our heritage. Hence, Mr. Ruger’s generous support of the NRA Foundation and the creation of the William B. Ruger Endowment. Mr. Ruger established this endowment to “secure forever firearms safety education, and the financing of programs for young shooters, ongoing wildlife and habitat conservation studies and related activitiesâ€.