Story by Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News
This story originally appeared in the Shooting Sports Annual 2021.
The numbers tell the story, but shooters are having all the fun. And more of the shooters are women and minorities, more of them are younger, and more of them are competing.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry, nearly 5 million Americans purchased a firearm for the first time in 2020, representing 40 percent of sales. Women comprised 40 percent of first-time gun purchasers.
All shooting disciplines are seeing an increase in participation, beginning in high school. The USA Clay Target League is currently holding 47 events of individual and team competition with more than 16,000 high school students participating, the largest clay target shooting sport event, and more and more colleges are adding teams to the college category. The Winchester Ladies Cup has brought female shooting to another level by equalizing prize money between male and female competitors.
3 Gun competitions are booming. In the last year, the NRA 3 Gun Experience has grown more than 30 percent, reaching new shooters in the timed events in which competitors move through various stages engaging in targets using a pistol, rifle and shotgun.
Long-range shooting also is on a rapid rise, with more shooters realizing the joy of hearing a bullet strike a metal gong at 1,000 yards or more. Competitions across the country report long waiting lists of shooters wanting to take part.
The numbers help state agencies and the economy in general. According to NSSF’s study, the total economic impact of the firearm and ammunition industry in the United States increased from $19.1 billion in 2008 to $63.5 billion in 2020, a 232 percent in- crease.
Full-time jobs total 342,330, 106 percent more than in 2008, with wages totaling more than $19 billion and with a total economic impact of more than $63.5 billion.
The industry and the jobs supported paid federal taxes of more than $4 billion; state taxes of more than $2.9 billion; and, of great importance to state and federal wildlife agencies, excise taxes of more than $665 million. Under the Pittman-Robertson Act, the excise tax is set at 11 percent of the wholesale price for long guns and ammunition, and 10 percent of the wholesale price for handguns.
Shooting has become more than groups of veteran enthusiasts who head to the range — it’s a fun and exciting way to enjoy getting out with friends, to safely hit some targets, and to compete with people who feel the same way, all while being a significant part of our nation’s economy.
