The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) just released their annual Firearm Ownership & Sport Shooting Participation in the U.S. report with stats from 2022. And while the mainstream media and anti-gunners would try to argue that gun rights groups and pro-freedom politicians are out of touch with the desires of mainstream America, the report revealed that is anything but the case. Indeed, the report reveals a sizable 24.1 percent growth of adult participation in sport shooting in America between 2009 to 2022. Surveys indicate that during that same timeframe, shooting sports participation grew from 34 million adult participants to more than 63.5 million. That’s nearly one-fifth of American adults who enjoy recreational shooting alone.
Key findings of the survey revealed the following:
- The most popular types of recreational sports shooting for adults in 2022 was target shooting with a handgun at 16.9 percent.
- Target shooting with a rifle was enjoyed by 15.6 percent of the participants.
- Target shooting at an outdoor range was practiced by 13.3 percent of participants.
The study also found that shooting at indoor ranges has successfully rebounded to pre-Covid 19 levels after their understandable dip when the pandemic forced many ranges to temporarily shutter.
Seventeen percent of all adults participating in the shooting sports were newcomers, a 42 percent growth since 2020. Those findings mirror a similar demographic change in overall firearm purchasers. In fact, today’s recreational shooters are more representative of a broader scope of Americans and are increasingly urban and not surprisingly female as more women take an interest in self-defense and the benefits of recreational shooting.
“These are encouraging figures that are consistent with the other trends we see in the monthly FBI background checks and industry production reports reflecting growth in firearm ownership,” says Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO. “Proficiency, accuracy and safe firearm-handling skills are learned and sharpened through regular and consistent shooting sports participation. Whether firearm owners shoot recreationally or competitively, recreational shooting sports are for everyone and makes our community of firearm owners safer, more responsible and more inclusive.”
The Firearm Ownership & Sports Shooting Participation Survey underscores the importance of NSSF’s +One campaign, organized to help grow shooting sports participation in the United States.
“If hunters and target shooters in America dedicate themselves to introducing someone new to the shooting sports, participation would double,” according to the NSSF.
We’ll work on getting our grubby, gunpowder-stained hands on the full report to share more findings here at TTAG. The report is actually available for free to NSSF members or available for purchase in the NSSF Store.
“I Don’t Like Guns” she said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTt35NiLBMA
full video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pJb-kX52bc
That’s a great vid.
Wish I had vid of the girl who cuts my hair shooting my 50AE DEagle for the first time.
Hitting 10″ steel plates at 25 yards w/iron sights, even one handed.
5′ 8″, 110 lbs, Dallas blonde. The firing line eventually stopped to watch. It was dusk, so the comp flames and 3ft ring of fire was VERY visible.
Today she shoots better then most men. Wired different, has great eyesight and NEVER had a flinch.
If she’s cutting your hair and holding some very sharp shears near your face as she works, she’d better *not* flinch.
There’s a reasonable chance that chick is a ringer. Then again – maybe not. It was pretty widely known even when I was a kid that chicks are more “natural shooters” than guys are. You might have a hard time convincing her to go shooting, but when she picks that pistol up, she just naturally holds it correctly, and naturally aligns the sights correctly.
Scale of 0 to 100, the video gets an 85 for credibility. It may just be propaganda.
I always heard that women had better hand eye coordination. Fine motor skills.
My wife is a case in point. She wants a gun for protection. But she’s not really into guns. Shoots very rarely.
But she does well when she does.
My daughter was hitting 1/2″ spinners at 25 yards with iron sights on her .22 cricket rifle when she was 10 years old.
I couldn’t even see the targets that she could easily hit.
My wife is a regular Annie Oakley & rarely goes shooting. Then again she is very strong with good eyesight. I guess most women don’t think they “know it all” like a lot of guy’s🙄
I’ve seen a few women that were naturals and never knew it until the fired a gun their first time. A few minutes of pre-instruction for grip, stance, and aiming and 30 minutes later they were ringing steel or doing groups so well it would put a lot of seasoned experienced shooters to shame.
My significant other was at a BBQ while in her early 20s and someone pulled out a 357 magnum snub-nose revolver. She proceeded to outshoot all the men who fired it that day.
I know almost everyone who was at that BBQ, and they still talk about it to this day. 😁
She has her mom’s 38 Special revolver. Keeps me on my BEST behavior.
It was like that with my wife. Her homeland prohibits all private ownership of firearms without either a possession or a carry permit. A month or so after we were married, she asked me to teach her how to handle and shoot a rifle. She had never even touched a firearm before, so we began with the basics of safety, parts of a firearm and cartridge and how they work, how to hold it, line up the sights and target, etc., and then I set up a line of water-filled two-liters about 50 ft from the bench. She popped them all with the old Stevens 22 that was my dad’s, and I set up another line and asked her to concentrate on aiming at individual letters on the labels this time. She said she already had done that, and told me what letters she had aimed at. I went to the pile and looked, and then told her I was glad she’s on my side. Pretty much the only lessons she has needed after that, were for how to operate the different kinds of firearms that she hadn’t fired yet, because she’s got the shooting part down pat.
Can you guys get rid of that spam post at the top from that ‘login ligaciputra’ spammer creep?
And my suitable for all ages opinion about yesterday’s Ruger max9 was moderated into oblivion.
Done. The spam is relentless, over 6k spam comments so far this week alone. We are doing our best to keep it out of everyones feed.
AND you moderated my comment about my wife. Over her being a regular “AnNiE OaKleY?!?
I think in the past, women mostly didn’t consider it because it was a “guy” thing. It’s ironic that most of the lgbt crowd and “feminists” are against it.
Ironic? What happens across the board when dog face pony soldier Gun owning History illiterate blowbags sat on their thumbs and allowed Gun Control zealots to turn Gun Control into the cat’s meow.
Actually the stats provide Gun Control nazis an estimate for the number of trains needed to transport Gun Owners to concentrations camps. Estimates not needed in IL as their rail system can handle most anything…sieg heil prickzker.
The Democrat left are the ones out of touch with the desires mainstream America. Any time any one of them start talking about someone on the right, they are hiving a description of what they themselves are doing.
MAGA isn’t just simply a movement with a quirky name made popular by Trump. MAGA is the desires of mainstream America.
I’m tired of the ” I know you are but what am I ” BS both sides are parroting. I’m not an educated human but I would expect more from our “leaders”. An original thought would be refreshing.
The Democrats have proven they are the Without Rule of Law with their defund the police policies. Minorities and women first time buyers have proven that fact. To them I say good on you and get training and practice often.
I do enjoy when I can find it, the summer Olympics women’s skeet shooting. More than a few weight a buck 10 soaking wet and still manhandle that 12ga and make the shots!
“…women’s skeet shooting…”
We watched some of that also. There weren’t many shots fired that didn’t end with a puff of dust, way better than I would do. My daughter took up archery in school because of those Mockingjay movies, and she regularly whipped the boys at their meets.
I take pride in knowing that I have turned 4 antigun women into active participants in shooting sports, and 3 of them carry a gun daily now. It takes so little to sit down with someone (male or female) and explain the realities of gun and gun ownership in a 1 on 1 setting. No bullshit media to cloud the waters. And when you have someone who is willing to listen foremost, but also is willing to change their mind and stance on a topic based on facts, well it doesn’t take much to disprove the nonsense being spouted on TV these days. I have two daughters who were both brought up in a culture that carries, uses and displays firearms. They were both proficient shooters by the age of 12 (yea it was a little late at 12 but we don’t have much of a choice of places to shoot up here. And they both prefer rifle shooting which kinda sucks at a 25 yard indoor range) They both love to deer hunt. The biggest thing is, raise them around firearms. Even if they chose not to be around them later in life, at least they have the knowledge if they decided to come back to the sport. All these people raising their kids keeping them away from firearms are the ones who create the problems. And those become the people that we have to convince otherwise. I’ve even taken my neighbors kids shooting because the neighbors didn’t participate in such things. It’s kinda funny and ironic when that kid grows up and immerses themself into the sport.
But we just have to combat the legacy media and social media spreading outright lies about firearms. If I believed the BS on tv then I’d be able to walk into a gun store and buy a chain gun from an apache
Ahhh phooey, girls can’t shute or fix cars.
Better off barefoot in the kitchen with two kids hanging off their legs stiring soup.
Next thing you know they’re going to want to Vote, then what’ll we have?
No Sir, I don’t like it.
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