The positive role firearm owners and their enthusiasm for the shooting sports play in the economy shows in a report released by the Sportsman’s Alliance Foundation in January 2025. It breaks down the impact of sport shooting in 2022, but unlike some others that use a broader brush, it drills details down to gun preference at the firing line.
According to the report, target shooters spent a total of $61.2 billion on firearms, ammunition, gear and other gun-related purchases that year. Add travel, lodging, meal and other expenses—using the widely accepted multiplier—and it comes to $144.2 billion in economic-impact. The pursuit supported 787,510 jobs.
Broken down by firearm choice, handgun owners led the way. They made $20 billion in firearm-related purchases that year, followed by rifle owners at $16.7 billion, shotgunners with $14.7 billion, airgunners $7.2 billion and muzzleloaders at $2.6 billion. Total economic impacts were $47.3, $39.1, $34.9, $16.8 and $6.1 in billions (that’s with a B), respectively.
“Target shooters may be having fun afield with each shot at a clay pigeon or paper target, but with each outing, they are also part of a massive economic engine at work,” the report explains. “Spending by recreational shooters helps to support hundreds of thousands of jobs. While many of these jobs are directly related to selling or manufacturing shooting goods, target shooter spending also helps support restaurants, service stations, and countless other businesses.”
Then there’s the taxes paid by enthusiasts. “In 2022 alone, the excise taxes paid by shooters and hunters amounted to over $1.1 billion,” it explains. “Additionally, target shooters contributed $940 million to organizations that help maintain and expand access for target shooting.”
The “Target Shooting in America: An Economic Force for Conservation” was produced for Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation by Southwick Associates using information provided in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.”
