NSSF President Welcomes New Gun Owners in This Video

In a recent video, NSSF President Joe Bartozzi says “Welcome” to each and every new gun owner in the USA today. Many folks who previously didn’t own guns have chosen to during 2020 due to societal uncertainly stemming from COVID-19 shutdowns and shortages, rioting, and the controversial presidential election. We join Mr. Bartozzi in welcoming all of these new gun owners into our community.

“If you are one of the millions of Americans who have recently chosen to purchase your first firearm, I want to personally welcome you to the community of gun owners — a community I know you’ll find to be friendly and supportive.”

Naturally, he focuses on safety.

“As a first-time gun owner, you’re going to want to spend time practicing with your new firearm. Time at the range is a great way to enjoy the target shooting sports, but it’s also where we can work with instructors to improve our gun-handling and marksmanship skills… to educate ourselves about personal and home protection, and to learn about keeping our guns securely stored and out of the wrong hands.”

He then goes deeper into the issue of safety, which is of paramount concern. Every gun owner must learn to respect firearms and to handle them safely. I encourage all gun owners — this includes both long-time firearms folks and new gun owners — to review the ten basic gun safety rules.

Joe also encourages folks to attend a firearms training class so they can learn to safely load, handle, and unload their new guns. That’s a great idea, and new gun owners can learn more about this by visiting LetsGoShooting.org.

His focus is (as it should be) on sincerely welcoming each new gun owner into our ranks:

“The most important thing to know as a newcomer is that you’re an important part of our community. You represent both the present and the future of the shooting sports.”
. . .
“So welcome to America’s fastest-growing community. You’re now part of a tradition of exercising the right that dates back to well before the founding of our country.”

I encourage you to view this video and share it with your friends, especially on social media. Who knows how many new gun owners are out there who choose not to “advertise” that they’ve got a gun? Please join NSSF and AO in making every new gun owner feel truly welcome among us.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.