New Gun Owners Could Sway Future Elections

The record-breaking gun sales during the coronavirus pandemic could bolster candidates that support the Second Amendment in 2020 and alter the course of American gun politics for the foreseeable future.

Several of the country's leading gun-rights groups are working to convert many more first-time owners into new gun-rights voters in the run-up to the 2020 election. Amy Hunter, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, said that the group's success could change the political landscape at the local, state, and national level.

"The NRA believes voters who recently purchased guns for self-defense will join other Second Amendment voters and be an even more formidable voting bloc," Hunter told the Washington Free Beacon. "They're educated, passionate, and they know anti-gun politicians are the biggest threat to their fundamental right to self-defense."

New buyers are learning for the first time how public policy shapes their ability to exercise their rights. Larry Keane, spokesman for the industry's National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), said that firsthand experience can change how voters look at gun control and Second Amendment legislation.