The National Rifle Association is growing hopeful that after four years of fighting off anti-gun policies in Washington and several state capitals, having an ally in the White House will result in several pro-firearms policies.
Doug Hamlin, the CEO and executive vice president of the nation’s biggest and oldest Second Amendment advocacy, said that the NRA is eager to work with President-elect Donald Trump on multiple fronts, including national-pro-gun initiatives and key law enforcement hires.
“We’re super excited because we have a president who has the benefit of four years experience,” Hamlin told Secrets.
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Besides nixing all the anti-gun plans pushed ineffectively by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Hamlin said that he expects the incoming president to help approve national concealed carry reciprocity and to institute reforms at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
During the campaign, Trump promised to sign a reciprocity bill into law. While all states allow concealed carry in some form, not all allow those from out of state to carry concealed across state lines. Virginians licensed to carry, for example, can’t also carry in neighboring Washington, D.C., and Maryland.
Legislation to allow national concealed carry for those who have the right to carry guns in their state is before Congress, as it has been for years. The NRA believes next year could provide the best environment and majorities for passages.
People have been buying guns at a rate of over 1 million a month for over five years and those with carry permits number over 20 million. What’s more, over half of the states do not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun.
“He’s talking about national reciprocity, and we would support that with bells and whistles,” Hamlin said of Trump. “People are trying to assess what happened in this election and this landslide, seven battleground states all went to President Trump. My thinking is that some of these duly elected democratic representatives may need to start rethinking their position” to oppose concealed carry, said Hamlin.
The recently installed NRA exec also said that the group is involved in offering names for a new ATF director who they hope will reverse an explosion of non-Congress-approved rules taxing and restricting some popular guns and efforts to shut down some gun dealers.
Onward and upward!
In an interview with @DCExaminer this week, NRA Executive Vice President & CEO Doug Hamlin spoke with @SecretsBedard about NRA’s ongoing efforts to invest in our programs and protect Second Amendment freedoms.
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— NRA (@NRA) December 12, 2024
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“I think if we can get someone at the directorship at BATF who has an open mind and supports the law-abiding, I think it would be a win-win situation,” said Hamlin.
“Congress should be making the rules, and we don’t want the bureaucrats dictating,” he added in a rebuke to ATF.
Hamlin anticipates that the NRA and Trump will continue to have good relations. While Trump is not a gun hobbyist, his sons are, and he has spoken to NRA conventions multiple times.
What’s more, the group rallied its members in several states, notably battleground states, to help Trump beat Biden.
“He’s been very, very good to the NRA. He knows that he wants that 2A vote and we delivered for him. NRA delivered for him in ’16 and big time,” said Hamlin. “People underestimated us in ’24, but we delivered more than people think. We helped big time in three key Senate races. We spent seven figures in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and in Montana. So so we did, we did good, Paul,” Hamlin said.
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Now, he said, the hard work of pushing through the NRA’s agenda will begin with support from the White House and majorities in the House and Senate.
“We’ll refine our legislative agenda and we’ll meet with leadership, as this new House and Senate gets sworn in, and the president gets inaugurated and so we’ll be active. We’ll be very active on the Hill and talking to the leadership and pursuing our agenda,” Hamlin added.
