Thoughts?
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The NRA Has Picked Oliver North of Iran-Contra Fame as Its New President
By LISA MARIE PANE / AP 4:21 PM EDT
(ATLANTA) — Retired Lt. Col. Oliver North, the gung-ho Marine at the center of the Iran-Contra affair three decades ago, was named president Monday of the National Rifle Association, giving it star power as it faces a powerful backlash over the massacres in Florida and Las Vegas.
North, 74, will be the biggest celebrity to lead the 5-million-member gun lobby since Hollywood leading man Charlton Heston, who famously declared in 2000 that his guns would have to be taken “from my cold, dead hands.”
“Oliver North is a legendary warrior for American freedom, a gifted communicator and skilled leader,” NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre said.
Momentum for gun control has been building since the mass shooting in Las Vegas last fall that killed 58 people and the Feb. 14 rampage at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 dead.
North was picked by the NRA’s board of directors, which elects a president every two years, and is expected to assume office within the next several weeks. He succeeds Pete Brownell, who decided not to seek a second term.
LaPierre remains as vice president and chief executive, running the powerful lobbying group’s day-to-day operations.
North will lead the board, and NRA observers say they anticipate he will take on a more public role in the style of Heston, a fiery presence who used his acting background to energize members.
North was a military aide to the National Security Council during the Reagan administration in the 1980s he emerged into the spotlight for his role in arranging the clandestine sale of weapons to Iran and the secret diversion of the proceeds to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
He was convicted in 1989 of obstructing Congress during its investigation, destroying government documents and accepting an illegal gratuity. Those convictions were overturned in 1991.
He has since run for office, written several books, gone on the speaking circuit and served as a commentator on Fox News.
In a statement, North said he was honored to be selected and “eager to hit the ground running.”
North’s appointment was hailed by gun-rights supporters who consider him a patriot who will vigorously push back against efforts to restrict access to firearms. Gun-control advocates called his appointment symptomatic of an NRA tone-deaf and unwilling to seek solutions to gun violence.
“For an organization so concerned with law and order, picking a new leader who admitted that he lied to Congress is a truly remarkable decision,” said Avery Gardiner, co-president of the Brady Campaign. The gun lobby “will be led by a man whose own concealed carry permit was revoked because he was ‘not of good character.’”
Robert J. Spitzer, chairman of political science at the State University of New York at Cortland and an expert on firearms and Second Amendment issues, called North the closest thing the NRA has to a celebrity.
“And maybe they figure they need a more prominent person at the helm, as opposed to the string of relative unknowns who have served in recent years,” Spitzer said.
Heston, who died in 2008, served from 1998 to 2003. In 2000, he sought to rally NRA supporters against Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, warning that Gore was going to “slander you as gun-toting, knuckle-dragging, bloodthirsty maniacs.”
Hoisting a flintlock rifle, Heston declared: “From my cold, dead hands!”
It was a time similar to today, an election following a high-profile mass shooting — the one at Columbine high school in 1999.
© 2026 – SoulSequel
13 responses to “New NRA President is Oliver North”
Hahahahahahahaaaa!!!! Sounds about right that a group like the NRA would hire a criminal to head their organization.
Like Slate said, Oliver North, an individual who lied to Congress about illegal weapons sales to a state sponsor of terrorism is now the president of an organization whose central belief is that legal gun ownership is the key to maintaining a safe country.
Meh, the NRA hires an old white male criminal. Big fucking surprise.
Here is Ollie’s mugshot.
@Gina
Where did you find that this is the NRA’s central belief?
@Weenis I told you, Slate. OK, ILLEGAL gun ownership is a central belief of the NRA. An American who played a key role in the secret sale of arms to Iran, which was under an arms embargo at the time; and proceeds from the clandestine weapons sales were funneled to support terrorist efforts against Nicaragua’s socialist government….will fit right in with this crazed mob of NRA people. (I know there are many sane, law abiding NRA members; but the people in charge are horrible people. Ollie will fit right in.) It’s adorable that you skipped over that part and focused on the central belief quote.
@Gina
I didn’t skip over anything. It was the only unoriginal thought you typed out that was worth responding to. The people at Slate are a bunch of statist liberal nutjobs.
Here’s the central belief of the NRA, and it has nothing to do with what Slate stated or you typed-
@Gina That’s not a mug shot photo, it’s U.S.State Department I.D. photo. Stop telling lies to support your argument…oh, I forgot, you’re a liberal, you guys operate on lies and conjecture.
@Weenis So, are you in the same boat as @immortal_pirate where he is either ignoring history or rewriting it by saying that’s not Ollie’s mugshot? Two things I haven’t thought you to be..ignorant and dishonest.
@Gina
No, I was liking it for his mention of liberals operating on lies and conjecture, which is correct.
The fact that he was involved in the secret sale of weapons actually increasingly qualifies him to be NRA president.
I’ve never been dishonest with you about anything, and you 99.99% of the time fail to prove me ignorant of anything.
There was that one time where you provided information and I was corrected, but in the grand scheme of things, that’s a drop in the bucket of what we refer to as “the ocean”.
@Weenis that’s why I said I don’t think of you as dishonest. We don’t agree on most things, but I would not call you a liar. Why don’t you point out to your buddy that Ollie was actually arrested, and that is his mugshot? Why do you let those 2 continue to spread lies on this site?
Why would Ollie illegally selling weapons qualify him to head the NRA?
@Gina
Because most gun laws in this country are unconstitutional.
@immortal_pirate Ick.
@immortal_pirate An arrest mug shot has the Arrest Docket Number under the picture. and not the Date of Birth that these U.S.State Department ID pictures have.
When under arrest and photoed for the “mug shot” the person under arrest is in handcuffs and cannot comb their hair, or straighten a tie, not to mention that they are in an orange jump suit for the shot. His conviction was overturned in 1991.
The American Authoritarian Republican Politburo is just following the prime directive of whaaaatever will piss off “librrraaaaaaals”.
It’s just part of how tweetle-D & twitter-dum keep the whole stupid pageant rolling.
That is really great news and an excellent choice to head the NRA. That is the best news I have heard today.