Douglas J. Hamlin has been named the new executive director of NRA Publications, effective immediately. Hamlin will be responsible for the editorial quality and market success of the magazines and related media properties produced by the division and received by NRA’s 5 million members. Hamlin succeeds Joe H. Graham, who retired after 14 years of service as executive director of NRA Publications.
“I am very pleased to have Doug Hamlin joining our ranks,” said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. “Doug has a proven track record of executive level publishing, marketing and sales management and, with decades of professional experience in the outdoors industry and in the publication of specialty magazines, he is eminently qualified to lead NRA Publications into the future.”
Hamlin, of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was the founder & CEO of autoMedia Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a Torrance, Calif., based automotive information services company. ASI owns and operates www.autoMedia.com.
"I am humbled and honored to serve the loyal membership of the NRA," said Hamlin. "My goal for the future is simple: to provide our readers with the finest recreational shooting sports journals and websites in the outdoor publishing industry."
Prior to founding ASI in February 2000, Hamlin spent 14 years at the Petersen Publishing Company serving in numerous sales, marketing and management positions, in both the Los Angeles and Detroit offices. Hamlin was vice president, group publisher of Motor Trend magazine from 1995-2000. His responsibilities included direct management for all editorial, advertising sales and circulation functions. Hamlin was also instrumental in the launch of MotorTrend.com.
Hamlin served as the publisher of Guns & Ammo magazine from 1991-1995. He worked closely with firearm and ammunition manufacturers, as well as congressional representatives, in support of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, “the right to keep and bear arms.”
Hamlin was a U.S. Marine officer on active duty from 1980-1986, and in the Reserves until 1992, attaining the rank of Major. His assignments were with the 1st and 3rd Marine Division as an infantry officer and at Recruiting Station Los Angeles as an officer selection officer.
Hamlin was a member of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation’s Board of Directors from 1997-2003, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Devil Pups Foundation. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He is married and has two sons.
NRA Publications produces the NRA’s official journals American Rifleman, American Hunter and America's 1st Freedom; Shooting Illustrated, a newsstand magazine; NRA Family InSights for junior members and their families; and Shooting Sports USA for competitive shooters; as well as four websites, two e-newsletters and the American Rifleman Television Show. American Rifleman, the association’s flagship magazine and the world's oldest and largest firearm authority, is among the top 25 consumer titles by circulation, as reported by the Alliance for Audited Media (AAM).
