Oliver North[1] says 100 million Americans own guns and that more of them need to join the National Rifle Association[2].
Mr. North[3], a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, talk show host and now the incoming president of the NRA[4], said his first goal will be to add 1 million people “as fast as we can” to the organization’s membership, which is already at a record, approaching 6 million.
In an exclusive interview with The Washington Times, Mr. North[5] described a challenging legal landscape for gun owners after former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens suggested repealing the Second Amendment and amid growing anti-gun propaganda in the wake of the Valentine’s Day school shooting in Parkland[6], Florida.
“They can do all the cyberwar against us — they’re doing it. They can use the media against us — they are. They’ve gone after our bank accounts, our finances, our donors, and obviously individual members,” Mr. North[7] said. “It’s got to stop. And that’s why the leadership invited me to become the next president of the NRA[8].”
The NRA[9] announced Monday that Mr. North[10], already a board member, would take over as president, giving the organization one of the highest-profile leaders in its nearly 150-year history.
Observers said it couldn’t be a coincidence, coming just months after Parkland[11], which sparked renewed gun control efforts on Capitol Hill and in a number of state legislatures, and an increasingly nasty tone toward the NRA[12].
Mr. North[13] said the NRA[14] is now the victim of “civil terrorism” after vandals splashed fake blood on the Virginia home of a
