Today, black americans represent one of the fastest growing segments of firearm owners and sport shooters

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service awarded a $214,746 Multistate Conservation Grant (CFDA 15.628) to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF) on January 1, 2024. The project's purpose is to develop targeted recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) strategies, communications, and outreach materials to encourage firearm ownership and sport shooting participation among Black Americans. NSSF will employ new data collection to better understand this demographic's perspective on firearm ownership and sport shooting, then work with the Black-owned marketing firm JMI to create messaging and outreach content to promote positive initial experiences and continued engagement in these activities. The overall goal is to help ensure Black Americans' initial and ongoing experiences with firearms and shooting sports are positive.

The latest sport shooting participation trend survey conducted by responsive management in 2023 for the national shooting sports foundation (nssf) found that black residents are the most likely group to be new sport shooters, meaning those who have taken up the activity within the past 5 years. Further, a recent nssf survey of firearm retailers determined that black americans purchases of firearms in 2020 were 58 higher than in the previous year that upward trend continued the following year, with roughly half of firearm retailers reporting increased traffic from black gun purchasers. Similarly, a recent responsive management survey for the sportsmens alliance foundation found that latent interest in sport shooting among active military personnel is associated with being black (among other characteristics). The national african american gun association, which was founded in 2015, now has over 45,000 active members across more than 100 chapters nationwide (notably, about half of the organizations members are female). Despite this promising grassroots activity, significant gaps remain in the available research on the R3 (recruitment, retention, reactivation) needs and opportunities of black americans when IT comes to firearm ownership and sport shooting participation. The purpose of this project is to develop targeted R3 strategies, communications, and outreach materials for black americans regarding their purchases of firearms and their participation in target and sport shooting activities. The overall goal is to ensure that black americans initial experience with a firearm is a positive experience and not a negative experience, especially through R3 programs and messages that focus on the unique motivations that drive black americans to buy firearms and regularly engage in sport shooting. The project will employ new data collection to better understand firearm ownership and sport shooting participation from the perspective of black U.S. Residents. New messaging and communications outreach material to encourage interest and participation in sport shooting among black people will then be developed by JMI, a richmond, virginia-based, black-owned-and-operated marketing and communications firm.