Opinion

On Monday, the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association of America elected former U.S. Congressman Bob Barr as President of the NRA and Doug Hamlin as NRA Executive Vice President & CEO.

The meeting of the Board of Directors followed the 153rd NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits where over 72,000 NRA members filled the halls of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center to check out the latest firearms, gear, and accessories from close to 700 exhibitors. On Saturday, President Trump delivered the keynote address at the NRA Leadership Forum in front of a capacity crowd where he accepted the official endorsement from the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) for his re-election as President of the United States of America.

“I thank my colleagues for their support of my election as NRA President,” said Bob Barr. “I have been a fighter my whole life and I commit to boldly fight for our Second Amendment rights on behalf of the millions of NRA members. We need to grow our ranks, especially in this election year, and I pledge to focus my attention on doing just that.”

The NRA Board of Directors also elected Pennsylvania businessman William A. Bachenberg as NRA First Vice President and Mark E. Vaughan, President of the Oklahoma Rifle Association, as NRA Second Vice President.

NRA Executive Vice President & CEO Doug Hamlin recently served as Executive Director of NRA Publications. Prior to joining NRA in 2014, Mr. Hamlin had a long career in the publishing industry. For 14 years he served in numerous sales, marketing, and management positions at the Petersen Publishing Company. He also was vice president and group publisher of Motor Trend magazine and served as the publisher of Guns & Ammo magazine. Mr. Hamlin served six years on active duty as a regular Marine Officer, including serving overseas with the Third Marine Division. He also has been active in Veteran charitable causes.

“I am truly humbled to be elected by the NRA Board of Directors as the next Executive Vice President & CEO of the NRA,” said Doug Hamlin. “Our Association is at a decisive moment in our history, and the future of America and constitutional freedoms depends on the success of the NRA. I look forward to working with NRA staff to execute NRA’s gold standard programs and promote political and public policies that are in the best interest of our members and all gun owners.”

Following the election of Mr. Hamlin as NRA Executive Vice President, he re-appointed Randy Kozuch as the Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) and appointed Joseph P. De Bergalis, Jr., as the Executive Director of NRA General Operations.

The Board of Directors also re-elected Sonya B. Rowling as NRA Treasurer and John C. Frazer as NRA Secretary. This year, the NRA membership voted overwhelmingly to create the position of NRA Chief Compliance Officer. Robert Mensinger was elected by the Board to serve in that position.

About NRA-ILA:

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess, and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org