Heston Wins 3rd Term as NRA Chief
Charlton Heston, unanimously re-elected Monday to an unprecedented third term as the National Rifle Association's president, predicted the group's soaring membership will reach 4 million by Election Day.
“I'm amazed. I must be doing something right,” the 75-year-old actor said after the uncontested voice vote by fellow board members.
Heston's re-election was the last big item of business to be completed at the NRA's 129th annual convention. Most of the members had already left town by Sunday night.
Saying his top priority now was to“defeat Al Gore,” Heston hinted that he might consider running for the NRA presidency again next year, when the convention moves to Kansas City.
Based on the reception he got from his fellow NRA board members several minutes earlier, a fourth Heston term as the leader of the nation's largest gun lobbying group would appear to be a lock.
“Maybe they like some of the movies,” he said when asked about his appeal to NRA members from around the country.
While Heston and other NRA leaders frequently mentioned President Clinton and the vice president by name during the convention, they did not mention presumptive GOP nominee George W. Bush.
On Monday, Heston said: “I support Mr. Bush.”
Heston also said he had not been asked by the Texas governor to campaign for him in the upcoming election.
Heston said he was braced for battle.
“It's going to be a tough few months,” he said. “There's a lot of work to do.”
Heston used an anecdote from his film career to describe his campaign strategy, recalling how he practiced for weeks to learn how to drive a four-horse chariot for the epic film, Ben-Hur.
When it came time to film the chariot scenes, his trainer told him: “Chuck, you stay in the chariot, and I guarantee you'll win the damn race.”
Heston said he felt the same way about leading the NRA into the fall elections.
“I take no credit for what you do,” he said. “You will win the damn race."
“You will serve our country well,” Heston said. “With you, I'm glad to be a foot soldier in the army.”
Heston said he was heartened by the record turnout of more than 52,000 people for the convention, which opened Friday. The previous record was 41,000 in Philadelphia two years ago.
Those figures dovetail with NRA statistics that show membership mushroomed by 200,000 new members to more than 3.6 million in the last six weeks.
“I think President Clinton's point of view on firearms has united a lot of people,” Heston said. “He didn't realize that would be the case.”
Heston said the message from the NRA convention was simple.
“Let's put it this way, the Second Amendment is alive and well,” he said with his signature clenched-teeth smile.
Earlier this month, te NRA said the gun lobby's bylaws were being amended to allow Heston, first elected in 1998, to run for a third term. Traditionally, NRA officers are elected to one-year terms and may serve only two terms concurrently.
The Charlotte convention was more upbeat than the NRA convention last year in Denver, when the group met less than a month after the Columbine massacre in nearby Littleton, Colo.
That meeting was scaled back to just a day, and gun exhibitions were canceled. This year, more than 300 exhibitors showed off their latest guns, rifles and other products in more than 170,000 square feet of exhibit space at the Charlotte Convention Center.
While there were protests, vigils and other anti-NRA events, most of them were held several blocks away from the NRA convention.
By Paul Nowell
©2000 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed