Will Most of the New Guns Owners Stay Gun Owners?

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Generalizations are always complicated.
A a general rule of thumb, we can probably assert that any group of people who does or participates in [thing] will range from avid interest, to average interest, to disinterest (and probably some levels of over-the-top and drug-kicking-and-screaming, too). Whether opera, ballet, or F-class or NRA High Power, whatever.

Part of this question probably is "Should we care if people who bought a gun, and never loaded it, are now selling that "nightstander"? Corollary to that, obviously, is "Did 'we' do anything that encouraged them to either stay, or to go?"

Of course finding ways to "reach" the indifferent is immensely complicated. And, we ought be mindful of those who just want to be "left alone," too,

My reflex is to respond, rather than reach out--which may be a failure on my part.
 
When I started shooting as a youngster I was taught and encouraged by older hunters and they kept at it bringing me along to field and range. Naturally a few of my peers were also brought up like that and as we got older we formed a loose group that hunted and competed.

As it often does, life takes over and people go in separate directions but from time to time I would make a new acquaintance and introduce them to target shooting. I can’t recall ever taking someone to the range and have them tell me they didn’t enjoy it. Some of those I continued to invite and most of those became gun owners, making shooting a regular part of their lives.

I think that a good portion of new gun owners would indeed stick with it if they had a mentor to train and encourage them, shifting their focus to enjoyment of the sport rather than a perceived threat or a need to protect them selves.
 
Will Most of the New Guns Owners Stay Gun Owners?

I figure it this way, some they will, some they won't and some you just can't tell. My son owns a gun and while not a shooter he will not part with that house gun. On the other hand my son-in-law has a few guns, enjoys shooting and I see him adding more guns in time. During the recent pandemic and change in political winds gun sales were at record highs for first time gun buyers and that has papered off. Will some sell off their guns? The few I know in this group likely will not. Will some who find themselves in a financial bind? Likely yes. My own thinking is yes, the majority will remain gun owners even if the gun collects dust on a back shelf of a closet.

Ron
 
If God would only grant me a additional 60 years, I would like to be here to buy all those unwanted firearms from estate sales. The market ought to be great.
 
part of me thinks a huge swath of the new owners are people who probably would have bought earlier, but - they were dissuaded by media, culture, spouse etc. once there was a threat, you could see and feel day after day, they just went all in. the few guys who I know who were new since 2019 are more into it than I am, and I'm kind of into it.
 
Only time will tell but this is an interesting question and I'll be curious to see how it plays out.

Put me, my wife and 1 of 2 kids in the "new owner" category. The 2nd kid was interested in old time military stuff, but even that has subsided. It is hard to believe that two offspring can be so entirely different (more than just guns). I bring this up because it is next to impossible to predict how people will react when talking about such a large sample size.

I for one have embraced firearm ownership to the maximum and just wish I had done so three years earlier. I (we) had talked about it for years and while I had shot many years ago, I just never "bit the bullet". Looking back, I 100% agree that the combination of the change in political policy, the pandemic, riots, etc, were what gave us, and probably most, the nudge.

Bottom line .... nothing is for sale but I may be willing to trade....:)
 
Cr4fty_P5ycho said:
Only time will tell but this is an interesting question and I'll be curious to see how it plays out.

Put me, my wife and 1 of 2 kids in the "new owner" category. The 2nd kid was interested in old time military stuff, but even that has subsided. It is hard to believe that two offspring can be so entirely different (more than just guns). I bring this up because it is next to impossible to predict how people will react when talking about such a large sample size.

I for one have embraced firearm ownership to the maximum and just wish I had done so three years earlier. I (we) had talked about it for years and while I had shot many years ago, I just never "bit the bullet". Looking back, I 100% agree that the combination of the change in political policy, the pandemic, riots, etc, were what gave us, and probably most, the nudge.

Bottom line .... nothing is for sale but I may be willing to trade....:)
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Welcome to THR. I warn you that the group has a bunch of enablers in it. So if you are thinking about buying a new firearm they will convince you that you need two. :D
 
As some above may have noted, given the extraordinary number of guns sold in the last few years, if even 5 or 10% of new gun owners get “into it” this thing of ours will be significantly strengthened. The silver lining in what the lunatics have wrought.
 
I had no handguns and only a shotgun stashed away that was my grandfathers. In December 2020 I bought my first handgun. Another one in May 2021. Three more this year (March, April, and yesterday!). I don't know that I have enough and I just might buy yet another one this year. No plans to get rid of them. Will pass them down to my son. He has his first two guns the same days I bought my first two.
 
CoalCrackerAl said:
My one LGS told me. After things settle down. A lot of new gun owners will be selling their guns. His used invatory has been picking up. So he was right id say. Last year you were lucky to see 6 used guns on his site.

https://gatorsusedguns.com/longguns
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Is the increase in used firearm inventory due to new owners selling out, or is it due to the panic subsiding and "gun people" now feel comfortable selling/trading things they already wanted to get rid of but held off on due to the possibility of imminent bans?
 
The Glockodile said:
I got that when I was waiting for my CFL to be issued at the local Sheriff's Office from someone who does sorta kinda fit into the "good ole boy" stereotype...

Quip: "...new gun owner, huh?"

Reply: "...competitive shooter from MS for the last twelve years, just moved into this state."

Sometimes, lying through my teeth so bad just feels so damned good.

Back to the topic - there will likely be more unattended, forgotten pocket pistols hidden in various closets across the U.S.A. as a result; IF the number of new owners IS SIGNIFICANT, then ODDS are we may get an increase (if even a small one) in the number of enthusiasts as well.

The more owners, the higher the CHANCES firearms will be seen from a favorable perspective, if that makes any sense.
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I personally get this quite a bit, I am a smaller guy, and do not fit into that stereotype at all. Being human it will depend on my mood if it ticks me off or not.

Likely because it happens to me so often I try VERY hard not to do it to others, sometimes I swing too far the other way when a little more instruction is warranted I tend to be shy as I don't want to "talk down" to them. Other people say I am a great teacher, myself....well I think I suck.
 
TarDevil said:
Things came and went in my life. Horses, motorcycles, guitars, water skiing.

Airplanes are a passion and have been in my blood and family always. They got me interested in guns. Both are bottomless wells of information. Airplanes were a passionate tool, now just a passion. I like guns a lot but they were never were a passion. They definitely are a tool.

Most significant similarity between guns and airplanes is neither should be attempted without significant commitment. That's what I would ask a new gun buyer... "Are you committed?"
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Sounds like me, I owned my personal little airplane, Piper PA-28, Raced sports cars all over the country, still have walls full of guitars, and am seeing the ending days of my motorcycle riding....thinking only a couple years left.

I don't see guns like I do airplanes, you can be a casual gun owner. With airplanes, your current or not. You need to keep flying, and keep adding hours or there is no place for you. Even if all you desire is a single engine land VFR you are going to need to stay sharp and current. You also have to deal with a medical yearly, or every couple years depending on your rating. With guns you can be very safe and just go deer hunting once a year, duck hunting....whatever there are buckets of people that do that. Have one deer rifle, one shot gun and that is it.

Now if you are talking about the initial buy in, I do agree, and the airplane world will FORCE you to have a significant commitment, in the gun world not so much. And really if you look at it close you will likely come away thinking....boy that one guy, he should not have a gun, but he has the right to. We all know where forced training will lead. And really if the anti's had a brain in their head they would work this angle to slowly take away the right and make it a privilege.
 
The Glockodile said:
Politikz!

Reeed Aleeert!

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1427-1#:~:text=Definition,as “all bad”).

There's this defense mechanism called "splitting" wherein one dichotomously separates characteristics of "friends" and "foes," typically aligning one's self with traits of "friends."

View attachment 1078116

We can use Josh Mandel's (OH) campaign platform as an example. Military, God, Guns, Trump... As a Republican Candidate, he gambled on defining the bandwagon as such to cater to potential voters. A bandwagon is, for all practical purposes, a narrative.

We do the same.

We define our "tribe" largely in our own self - image (pretty much like we do God).

Truth is, it's a pretty wide, diverse spectrum being myopically viewed through (really dumb) preconceived versions of "left" and "right..."

There are lots of left - wing folks who are avid shooters, believe me...

...in MS.

They're every bit as "American" as you and I.
Click to expand...

I really hope they don't nuke this post, or shut down this thread as it does have to do with "gun" rights.

I feel the need to say something about this last statement.

Folks the "left" is changing, and we all have seen it from the other side of the isle. Thing is they are seeing it as well. There is this "new left" that we hear so much about. These are the people that are driving away people like Rubin and Maher, they still have some pretty "left" points of view, Bill Maher has even said I have not changed one single thing I believe, it is the left that has changed. It is all this woke stuff mostly and if you are not all in you are the enemy. They are driving away their own.

I love the below clip as it is solid proof of what they are doing.



And if those left wing shooters are up front and honest about their shooting hobby they will be eaten alive by the new voice of the D party. Just like they are with the video I posted up. The same thing is happening with the shooting group, they are being driven out of the party, and most are drifting to the Libertarian side of things. Most people have a hot issue, I would be most of us here it is the 2A, some people it might be abortion, or the border, the issue is you generally don't find one party that lines up with your total views, so you might be for the 2A and you might also think abortion should be legal. That puts you right in the middle of two different parties, now it is up to you to choose what is the BIG issue to YOU. And you vote that single issue. Some of the people the left is tossing aside will hold their nose and push D, others might do the same and hit R, most will just not cast a vote. And if 2000 mules holds just a sliver of truth that is no big deal to the D's.

As to your "lefty" shooting buddies, and I also have a few, one is even a cop and works with me. For a joke I put a trump 2020 sticker in with his patch collection. He put a biden sticker on my PC, we have fun kidding back and forth, but he is really in a spot, the defund the police thing really made him open his eyes, he has been a cop longer then I have worked with him, he is younger then I by a few years, but I would call an old timer.

These I call them Kennedy dems. are really at a loss, and what we need to do is have good talks with them, not at them. He sees the crazy of the new D party and it is starting to open his eyes. Guns, trans, border, drug deaths are all starting to hit us really hard, and all are part of the policies his party supports.

Guns are just a small part of it all....but they are a part.
 
Will Most of the New Guns Owners Stay Gun Owners?

Since all we have is conjecture without any way to know if "most" will , I think it is logical that most of this new wave of gun owners will stay gun owners just because it is easier than selling/gifting/disposing of the firearm they bought. That's like most first time gun owners who simply put their gun away in a closet/drawer with a partial box of ammunition be it in the '50s, '60s, ...

It also won't make them 2A supporters. Some will see no threat in good folks who keep a gun at home, but their definition of "good folks who keep a gun at home" will be subject to change or personal definition.

It will be up to us to help them learn to safely use and keep those new guns and the importance of understanding that they are the very people the Antis want to disarm because they're the ones that obey the laws.
 
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Some will fall in love and keep shooting for years if not till their end of days.

Some will detest having too and sell it when they think the need is over.

Most will be in between somewhere.

Some will have social beliefs that aren’t popular with many gun owners, like many here, and some forums will let members bash them and even if they were loving their new firearm will be driven away, maybe even driven to be a hard core anti.

We need to be welcoming to all new gun owners, help them, nurture them, bring them into the pro gun fold.
 
I think if they bought them from fear, they won't necessarily be active shooters, but will keep them.

Don't count on them to support 2A rights, those are for gun nuts, not them.
 
I think a number will stay. Based on the numbers we have had for carry classes at the club - I know we've done over 5000 because I ordered 10 reams of form stock the summer before the 2020 elections. and it ran out last year. Carry classes are booked solid out to Sept 2022, and no end in sight. Of those perhaps 20% are renewals.
 
I would guess of most of new firearm owners stays owners, but not exactly interested - thats how it ussually go in situations where there is "need" instead of "want" at beginning

For "2A" i would say its more of threat, not that much significant, but still is. More owners without interest means bigger chance for some negative outcome - accidents, lost guns and other incidents

It would be ofcourse diffrent story if majority of new owners actually stay/became interested and spend time with training and education themself
 
I would keep my eye on Pawn Shops and LGSs when inflation and a pending Recession gets worse. Anything bought on a whim will be the first to be sacrificed. Some will see their new purchase as even more necessary others will still need gas and formula. Many of the newer purchases were done so with stimulus money. One of the reasons I rarely shop during tax return season.
 
I call them sock drawer gun owners; they buy a gun shoot it once or twice then put it in their sock drawer. Stay's there for about five years then they need some money for a different project and sell it. Nothing new just now it's on steroids.
 
The Glockodile said:
Politikz!

Reeed Aleeert!

https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1427-1#:~:text=Definition,as “all bad”).

There's this defense mechanism called "splitting" wherein one dichotomously separates characteristics of "friends" and "foes," typically aligning one's self with traits of "friends."

View attachment 1078116

We can use Josh Mandel's (OH) campaign platform as an example. Military, God, Guns, Trump... As a Republican Candidate, he gambled on defining the bandwagon as such to cater to potential voters. A bandwagon is, for all practical purposes, a narrative.

We do the same.

We define our "tribe" largely in our own self - image (pretty much like we do God).

Truth is, it's a pretty wide, diverse spectrum being myopically viewed through (really dumb) preconceived versions of "left" and "right..."

There are lots of left - wing folks who are avid shooters, believe me...

...in MS.

They're every bit as "American" as you and I.
Click to expand...
It's also known as the Us vs Them Paradigm most commonly referred to as "Othering" and it's ingrained in our DNA. It can be consciously overcome but it is part of our makeup.
 
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