More people shoot than play golf
The Journal Sentinel has posted an article about the growth of shooting sports …
According to a study conducted by Responsive Management, 34.4 million Americans went target shooting in 2009.
For comparison, 28.6 million Americans golfed (a minimum of one round) in 2008, according to the National Golf Foundation.
The Responsive Management study included a wide spectrum of shooting activities at gun clubs and ranges, including hunters sighting in rifles, trap and skeet shooters and handgun owners practicing marksmanship.
Although the number – about 15% of the nation’s population – is not insignificant, target shooters are a distinct minority in America.
And unlike golf, shooting carries a negative stigma in much of mainstream America.
[Hat Tip: Rustmeister’s Alehouse]
I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!
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I enjoy both, prefer shooting but like to spend an afternoon playing golf.
And for a french guy, the number of people who enjoy shooting in the US is quite impressive. Sadly here and in most of Europe, the numbers are probably much lower, less than 1% of the population I would say.
As the old saying goes - a golf course is a perfect waste of a rifle and a skeet range. A lot of people are beginning to appreciate this old wisdom!