These Are Our Stories
Millions of gun owners represent the best of America. They come from all different backgrounds, communities, and beliefs, and they agree on the importance of safe firearm ownership.
"I think there's this negative stereotype about what gun owners are and who they are. And for me being involved in actually meeting real gun owners and firearms industry executives and leaders, it's just been really enlightening to see how diverse, how inclusive and how passionate our community is to protect our Second Amendment rights, and also to continue encouraging safe and responsible firearm storage and usage.”
Stop Asian Hate Advocate
Fact
New Gun Owners are Female
Approximately half of all new gun owners between January 2019 to April 2021 were female.
The Wall Street Journal
The Most Surprising New Gun Owners Are U.S. Liberals
After decades of decline, gun ownership is rising among Democrats.
Fact
Gun Ownership in America is Common
About four-in-ten U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 32% who say they personally own one.
Bloomberg
Black Women Represent Growing Share of US Gun Owners
Many of the recently armed women say that having a firearm allows them to take safety into their own hands.
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Jon Hall
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Dianna Muller
“One of the things that has made me feel so welcome in the firearms industry or in the firearms community is that it doesn't matter if you're a woman, if you're a child, if you're a man, older or young. There are a lot of people around you who are willing to teach you.”
Olympian & Mom
“Imagine someone who's anti-gun going into a black community and this community says 'I need to buy guns to keep myself safe, or keep the community safe from the bad individuals who are also a part of the community.' You're going to go and tell those people they don't have a right to own a gun?”
Political Analyst
Fox News
Armed women nationwide refused 'to be victims' in 2023 as gun ownership increases
Gun ownership among women has boomed in recent years.
Fact
22 Million Americans Bought Guns for the First Time
Between 2020 and 2024, more than 22 million people became first-time gun owners––and they reflect the diversity of America.
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Jackie Smith
“In our communities today, we make a lot of presumptions about people based on how they look or their political views. But at the core of all of us is a desire to have a safer community."
Clerk of Circuit Court
Fact
One in Five American Households Purchased a Gun During the Pandemic
First-time gun purchasers during the pandemic were more likely to be younger and People of Color, compared to pre-pandemic U.S. gun owners.
Fact
Personal protection tops the list of reasons gun owners give for having a firearm.
About seven-in-ten gun owners (72%) say protection is a major reason they own a gun.
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Douglas Jefferson
“Knowing that there are more African-American with guns makes it very, very positive for the future for me. Never has there been this many African-Americans with guns in the United States at this time. That gives me hope. That lets me know that this social DNA that's been pushed down on us, that says guns are bad, it's slowly being wiped away, and the folks that are getting these guns are saying, "You know what? It's okay to get a gun. I have the right to get a gun. I have the right to protect my family.”
Community Leader
Washington Post
Americans are buying guns — but maybe not the Americans you think
The upward shift among more-Democratic constituencies are noteworthy precisely because they’re unexpected.
Fact
Democrats Embrace Gun Ownership
Gun ownership among Democrats or Democrat-leaning individuals rose to 29 percent in 2022, a significant increase from 22 percent in 2010.
The Guardian
Asian Americans are buying guns in record numbers. What's caused this surge?
More than 5 million people became first-time owners during the pandemic as gun sales to the community rose by about 43%.
Fact
One-fifth of new firearm owners are Hispanic.
Between 2019 and 2020, community purchases grew by almost 50%.
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Miguel Santiago
“I think there's a lot of stigmas about the shooting community and what I'd love for people to realize is that we're just regular people. We go to the grocery stores, we go to the movie theaters. We like to hang out and just do normal everyday things."
Olympian
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Philip Smith
CNN
Meet the new face of gun owners in the US: Asian Americans
A growing number of Asian Americans are buying, or considering buying, guns for protection.
Fact
Women Deserve to Feel Safe
Women are more likely than men to cite protection – rather than recreation – as the only reason they own a gun.
New York Times
I’m a Black American. I Need a Gun to Feel Safe in This Country.
Some Black Americans never considered buying a gun. Until now.
Fact
Black and Hispanic Gun Ownership is on the Rise
Of 7.5 million adults who became new gun owners between 2019 and 2022, 20% were Black and 20% were Hispanic.
“When I am able to teach a woman how to be independent with a firearm, and I watch her learn that empowerment and feel that empowerment, it is very gratifying.”
Firearm Instructor
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Shermichael Singleton
Fact
Diverse Gun Owners Use Firearms for Self Defense
Black and Hispanic gun owners report a higher rate of defensive use of the guns they own than do White gun owners.
“If I had a chance to speak with my elected officials as an African American man that owns a firearm, one thing I want them to understand is that gun owners in general, we're not the enemy. We're not the bad guys here. We have the same concerns as everyone else when it comes to the safety of ourselves and the safety of our community. I'm really, really hopeful for the future when it comes to firearms ownership within the African American community.”
Community Leader
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Gabby Franco
CBS News
More women buying guns to defend themselves: "The world is changing"
In 2021, one-third of all first-time gun buyers in the U.S. were women.
CNN
Tired of living in fear, some Latinos are buying guns to feel more safe
People who in the past have been less likely to own firearms, including Latinos, might become interested in acquiring them after seeing more people around them doing so.
NBC News
Why more Black people are looking for safety in gun ownership
A rise in hate crimes and anti-Black vitriol sparked a 58 percent increase in Black people purchasing firearms in 2020. The spike seems to have continued.
“For me, as a member of the LGBT community and AAPI community, it really is meaningful to see the firearms industry speak directly to people like me, and who are a part of the multiple communities that I'm a part of. To literally see the diversity that already exists in the firearms community is incredibly impactful. I'd love to continue seeing more and more diverse voices, faces, perspectives, attitudes and opinions in the community be highlighted.”
Stop Asian Hate Advocate
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Alison Hester
Fact
Black Gun Owners Increasingly Embrace Gun Rights
In 2014, 19 percent of Black households had a gun owner. By 2017, that number had grown to 24 percent.
Boston Globe
Black and white Americans are embracing the Second Amendment
The denial of the right to own weapons reinforced the racial repression of America’s first centuries.
“We have Republicans, Democrats, gay, straight, rich, poor, white, black, Asian, Latino, it doesn't matter. When you come to us, we're going to not judge you on how you dress, how you talk, who you voted for or not. We're just going to say, "Come on and learn about firearms.”
Community Leader
“As a Black woman, as a Black person, as a Black human, we fought for our freedom by firearms. I do not want to disarm myself at all. The new firearm culture that I'm seeing, especially with more people who look like me entering into the space, it's inviting. It feels comfortable. It feels like I can get the training I need without feeling nervous.”
Entrepreneur & Mom
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Nick Fairall
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Sara Burlingame
Boston Globe
Black gun ownership is on the rise. These Boston instructors are at the forefront.
African-Americans comprise 32 percent of people who’ve taken up shooting in the past five years, the biggest increase of any demographic group.
Fact
In 2023, 41% of Democratic households owned guns.
That figure was up from 33 percent in 2004.
“We have some absolutely amazing women in this industry and the sport of shooting. They can be some of the best shooters in the world from Olympians, to experts, to instructors, to moms, to sisters and to daughters."
Lifelong Gun Owner
CNN
Liberal, female, and minority.
America’s new gun owners aren’t who you’d think.
CNN
With threats on the rise, many Jews in America are buying guns and seeking firearms training
A rise in American Jewish gun ownership would come as a noticeable shift for a group that is historically liberal and a majority of which are registered Democrats.
"The adaptive community is definitely more of a vulnerable community. We don't necessarily have the ability that a normal able-bodied person might be able to have in defending themselves or anything like that. So, a firearm is a great equalizer for us."
Olympian & Adaptive Gun Owner
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Kass Wojcik
Washington Post
Meet a trans gun trainer: ‘Our goal is keeping people safe’
LGBTQ+ gun owners are teaching their community how to arm themselves.
“The firearms community is very inviting and very loving. The most kind, salt-of-the-earth people that I'm aware of. They're the most good-hearted people.”
Retired Law Enforcement
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: Arthur & Anthony
NBC News
Poll: Gun ownership reaches record high with American electorate
More than half of American voters -- 52% -- say they or someone in their household owns a gun, per the latest NBC News national poll.
The New York Times
Meet Some of America's Newest Gun Owners
These Americans are upending preconceptions about who buys a gun and why.
In conversations with people across the country — men and women; young and old; Black and white — I came to see something I might not have considered previously: A whole universe of people had once believed, firmly, that they would never buy a gun. Until they did.
New England bureau chief for The New York Times
New York Times
They Never Planned on Buying a Gun. Until They Did.
Some new gun owners, a reporter found, are ready to approach the painful topic of firearms with more curiosity and less confrontation.
Video
Partners for REAL SOLUTIONS®: The Blank Family
The Independent
From eight-year-old ‘influencers’ to trans anarchists, today’s gun owners aren’t who you think
The demographics of gun ownership are changing, with a huge uptick in Black and Latino people, women and members of the LGBTQ community. Meanwhile, gun influencers are getting younger and younger.
I feel like a lot of people in wheelchairs feel like they can’t defend themselves or that they can’t carry a weapon. To me, it doesn’t matter. Everybody’s disability affects them differently. I’m always like, ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’
Adaptive Athlete
The National Shooting Sports Foundation® is the trade association for the firearm industry. For decades, our REAL SOLUTIONS. SAFER COMMUNITIES.® initiatives have been creating safer communities by promoting firearm safety, responsible firearm use, and safe firearm storage among lawful gun owners. We also have been working to reduce firearm accidents and reduce criminal access to and misuse of firearms.
Learn More About REAL SOLUTIONS®