The Revolt at Cincinnati has been cited as a turning point in the NRA's history, marking a move away from the group's focus on "hunting, conservation, and marksmanship" and towards defending the right to keep and bear arms.
Carter resigned in protest and concentrated on winning the support of the NRA's Life Members ahead of the 1977 annual meeting, assisted by Neal Knox's editorial reach.
[6][7] At the Cincinnati convention, Carter and Knox led a grassroots movement with a focus on preventing the construction of an Outdoor Center in Colorado Springs and unseating the "Old Guard" leadership.
The Outdoor Center would have served as new headquarters for the organization away from Washington DC and politics, while the Old Guard referred to the many leaders who had spent multiple decades in their positions.
[10] Preceding the 1977 convention, the NRA's leadership had made plans to move the group's headquarters from Washington, D.C., to an Outdoor Center in Colorado Springs focused on conservation and recreational shooting.