# Neal Knox

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{{short description|American activist}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Clifford Neal Knox
| image       = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [brackets](/source/brackets) -->
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| birth_name  = Clifford Neal Knox
| birth_date  = June 20, 1935<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Birth-date and age|Month DD, YYYY}} -->
| birth_place = [Rush Springs, Oklahoma](/source/Rush_Springs%2C_Oklahoma)
| death_date  = {{Death date and age text|January 17, 2005|June 20, 1935}}<!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) -->
| death_place = [Manassas, Virginia](/source/Manassas%2C_Virginia)
| other_names = Neal Knox
| known_for   = Gun Rights Activism
| occupation  = Writer, editor, and publisher
}}

'''Clifford Neal Knox''' (June 20, 1935 &ndash; January 17, 2005) was a board member and officer of the [National Rifle Association of America](/source/National_Rifle_Association_of_America) (NRA), gun magazine writer and editor, [gun rights](/source/Gun_politics_in_the_United_States) activist, and prolific author of technical firearms articles and articles related to his interpretation of the [Second Amendment](/source/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution) and views on firearms laws.

==Early life==
Born in [Rush Springs, Oklahoma](/source/Rush_Springs%2C_Oklahoma) and raised in [Texas](/source/Texas), Knox served eight years in the [Texas National Guard](/source/Texas_National_Guard) and attended Abilene Christian College, now [Abilene Christian University](/source/Abilene_Christian_University), and [Midwestern State University](/source/Midwestern_State_University) in Wichita Falls. He also began what would become a long career as a freelance writer and columnist; he started as a reporter for the ''[Vernon](/source/Vernon%2C_Texas) Daily Record'' before he moved on to the ''[Times Record News](/source/Times_Record_News)'' in Wichita Falls.

==Career==
As an independent writer, Knox sold several articles to gun magazines including ''[Guns & Ammo](/source/Guns_%26_Ammo)'' and ''[Guns](/source/Guns_(magazine))'' magazine between 1964 and 1966. He formally entered the firearms journalism trade in 1966, when he became the founding editor of ''Gun Week'', a weekly newspaper covering firearms issues of the day. The paper gave in-depth coverage to the bill that would eventually become the [Gun Control Act of 1968](/source/Gun_Control_Act_of_1968). Knox left ''Gun Week'' in 1968, when he moved to Wolfe Publishing/as editor of ''Handloader Magazine'' and founding editor of ''Rifle Magazine''.

In 1978, Knox moved to [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) in order to lobby against gun control measures and work for the National Rifle Association. He served four years as the executive director of the [Institute for Legislative Action](/source/Institute_for_Legislative_Action) (ILA), the lobbying arm of the NRA. At the ILA, Knox was instrumental in convincing friendly lawmakers to introduce a reform of the 1968 Act. The bill became the [Firearm Owners Protection Act](/source/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act), which eventually passed in 1986.

From 1984 to his death, Knox was the chairman of the Firearms Coalition, an organization that he created, which lobbies against restrictive gun laws.

==Political activism==
One of the recurring themes throughout Knox's career was his uncompromising stance on gun laws and the [2nd Amendment](/source/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution), which he believed recognizes a pre-existing human right to self-defense. His views would lead him into many confrontations with other members of the NRA leadership and Congressional leadership. Knox publicly accused many NRA leaders of being too moderate. In 1977, Knox was among the hardliners who took control of the NRA during the [Revolt at Cincinnati](/source/Revolt_at_Cincinnati).<ref>{{cite journal |author1=David Brock |title=Wayne's World |journal=[The American Spectator](/source/The_American_Spectator) |date=May 1997 |issue=May 1997 |pages=36–45 |publisher=American Spectator Foundation |language=en-US |issn=0148-8414}}</ref>

The same hardliners fired Knox from the NRA five years later in 1982. Over the ensuing decade, Knox used his own columns in magazines popular with NRA members like ''Shotgun News'' and ''Guns & Ammo'' to get himself and up to 10 allies elected to the NRA board in 1991.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gray Davidson|first=Osha|title=Under Fire: The NRA and the Battle for Gun Control|year=1993|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=0877456461}}</ref>

In 1997, a narrowly divided NRA Board voted Knox out of the succession line for president of the NRA, replacing him with [Charlton Heston](/source/Charlton_Heston), who was subsequently elected president of the organization.

==Death==
Knox died in 2005, aged 69, after a year-long struggle with [colon cancer](/source/colon_cancer).<ref>{{cite web |title=Gun Rights Champion Neal Knox Dies|url=http://www.gunweek.com/2005/nealobit0201.html |work=Gun Week|accessdate=6 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617202544/http://www.gunweek.com/2005/nealobit0201.html|archive-date=2012-06-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>

His son, Jeff Knox, continues the Knox Report column, which is published in ''[Shotgun News](/source/Shotgun_News)'' (now rebranded as ''Firearms News'') and elsewhere. Another son, Chris Knox, has compiled and edited a collection of his writing, ''Neal Knox: The Gun Rights War''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Knox |first=Neal |editor-last=Knox |editor-first=Chris |year=2009 |title=Neal Knox: The Gun Rights War: Dispatches from the Front Lines 1966 Through 2000 |location=Manassas, Va. |publisher=MacFarlane Press |isbn=978-0976863304 |oclc=423586835}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060712040207/http://www.nealknox.com/Obituary.html Neal Knox: Obituary]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knox, Neal}}
Category:1935 births
Category:2005 deaths
Category:Gun writers
Category:Abilene Christian University alumni
Category:American columnists
Category:American gun rights activists
Category:American magazine editors
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:American reporters and correspondents
Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer in Virginia
Category:People from Grady County, Oklahoma
Category:Activists from Texas
Category:20th-century American male writers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Neal Knox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Knox) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Knox?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.