The Evolution of Gun Owners: How Young, Moderate Gun Enthusiasts are Shaping Industry

A new era of gun owners is coming to the table. Younger and politically more moderate than in the past, this new wave of gun enthusiast is far from the typical stereotype of gun owners.

Sarah Cade embodies the youthful vibrance and passionate authority of a new generation. Cade, team leader of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and self-described liberal gun owner, spoke to Guns.com at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in 2018, about the challenges this new, younger and often liberal or moderate subset of gun owners face within the community.

“I think right now there are two factions in the political community. There’s the old guard and there’s the new guard and there’s some conflict between the two,” Cade told Guns.com. “The number one thing I would say is alienation…I think that what we’re doing is it’s kind of like gatekeeping. We’re keeping away a lot of people that we need for our cause.”

Though this younger generation of gun owners might share more moderate to left-leaning ideals, she emphasizes that this evolving group of gun owners still adhere to the basic tenants of the Second Amendment. Ultimately, Cade said, liberal gun owners are fighting for the same rights and looking for the same things as the older generation — a way to preserve gun rights. The best way to help the cause is to encourage gun ownership. The way to do that, Cade emphasizes, is through personal connections.