The National Rifle Association has selected former Congressman Bob Barr as its next president.
The gun rights group’s board of directors voted in favor of Barr during a meeting this week. The Republican represented Georgia from 1995 to 2003. Barr was also the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in 2008.
“I thank my colleagues for their support of my election as NRA President,” said Bob Barr in a statement. “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.”
Barr was previously a member of the NRA’s board and currently practices law in Atlanta. Prior to his time in Congress, Barr worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for eight years in the 1970s and as an anti-drug coordinator for the Department of Justice for four years in the late 1980s.
Doug Hamlin, the former executive director of NRA Publications, will serve as the organization’s executive vice president and CEO.
"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," said Hamlin, per CBS News.
The NRA’s last president, Wayne LaPierre, oversaw the advocacy organization’s operation for roughly 30 years before stepping down in January.
"I’ve been a card-carrying member of this organization for most of my adult life, and I will never stop supporting the NRA and its fight to defend Second Amendment freedom,” he said in a statement. “My passion for our cause burns as deeply as ever."
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has called the NRA a “terrorist organization,” accused LaPierre and the gun rights group of “fraud and abuse.” The NRA was incorporated in New York in 1871. LaPierre was ultimately found liable and ordered to pay over $4 million in damages.
Former President Donald Trump was the keynote speaker at the NRA’s Leadership Forum on May 18 during its 153rd Annual Meetings & Exhibits.
"We've got to get gun owners to vote," Trump said during his remarks, which lasted roughly an hour and a half. "I think you're a rebellious bunch. But let's be rebellious and vote this time."
He vowed to fire the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and undo gun regulations implemented under President Joe Biden.
“The attacks are coming fast and furious,” said the presumptive Republican nominee, per Reuters.
The NRA endorsed Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
