Hispanic Victims of Lethal Firearms Violence in the United States

In 2001, the United States experienced a historic demographic change. For the first time, Hispanics became the largest minority group in the nation, exceeding the number of Black residents.1 In 2024, Hispanics represented 20 percent of the total population of the United States.2

This study is intended to report on Hispanic homicide victimization and suicide in the United States, the role of firearms in homicide and suicide, and overall gun death figures. Recognizing this demographic landscape, the importance of documenting such victimization is clear. Indeed, studies have found that Hispanic individuals are more likely to die by firearm homicide compared to white individuals.3-5

Available National Data on Hispanic Lethal Victimization

This study utilizes primarily public health data to describe the impact of lethal firearm violence on the Hispanic population in the U.S. in 2024. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services maintains national public health data as recorded by death certificates and compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The CDC collects mortality data that includes homicides, suicides, and unintentional deaths, as well as legal intervention deaths and those of undetermined intent. While CDC data is the most comprehensive available to measure total fatal victimization in each cause of death category as well as age and race/ethnicity, it lacks detailed information about homicides reported in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) crime data.

Homicide-related information reported by the FBI that is not provided by publicly available CDC mortality data includes: age and sex of the offender, circumstances surrounding the homicide, relationship of the victim to the offender, and detailed information on the type of weapon used, including type of firearm. Unfortunately, the information contained in the FBI data is limited as it does not include data on suicides or unintentional deaths. Additionally, information about victim ethnicity is limited. In 2024, information on the Hispanic ethnicity of homicide victims was missing for 26 percent of homicides reported to the FBI.6 Victim ethnicity is not a required field in one of the systems the FBI uses to collect crime data; therefore, law enforcement agencies can choose not to report this information.

This report presents CDC data for all firearm deaths in the Hispanic population between 2003 and 2024, as well as FBI crime data for more detailed information concerning homicides occurring in 2024.

Key Findings and Recommendations

Key Findings

• In 2024, more than 5,300 Hispanics were killed by guns. That year, 2,776 Hispanics died in gun homicides, 2,351 died in gun suicides, 49 died in unintentional shootings, and 205 died in other circumstances (including legal intervention and undetermined intent).

• More than 85,000 Hispanics were killed by guns between 2003 and 2024. During this period, 52,388 Hispanics died in gun homicides, 28,677 died in gun suicides, and 1,209 died in unintentional shootings.

• Most Hispanic murder victims are killed with guns. In 2024, guns were used in nearly three-quarters of the homicides where the victims were Hispanic. The latest data show that for homicides where the victim was Hispanic and a gun was used, 54.0 percent of these shootings involved a handgun.

• The homicide victimization rate for Hispanics in the United States is more than twice as high as the homicide victimization rate for whites. The Hispanic homicide victimization rate in 2024 was 5.4 per 100,000. In comparison, the homicide victimization rate for whites was 2.6 per 100,000.

• As a result of the limitations in current data collection, the total number of Hispanic victims is likely higher than the reported numbers suggest. Government agencies often report data on race but not on ethnic origin. Recognizing the changing demographic landscape in the United States, it is clear that fully documenting such victimization is a crucial step in preventing it.

Recommendations

Governmental agencies that collect data on death and injury should obtain complete information on the ethnic origin of individuals in addition to their race. This will ensure complete and accurate data collection on Hispanic victims of lethal violence.

• Individual-level ethnic origin information should be captured by all governmental agencies, regardless of department, and at all levels — local, state, and national — for all pertinent users and subjects of agency services.

• Individual-level ethnic origin information should be self-reported and not based solely on a person’s surname or other measure.

• All public access data and published reports issued by governmental agencies should include information on ethnic origin in addition to race.

• The U.S. Department of Justice should issue periodic or special reports on Hispanic victimization.

• States with a substantial proportion of Hispanic residents should issue periodic or special reports on Hispanic victimization and deaths due to all causes, including violence.

Improved data collection is essential to fully understanding the scope of lethal firearms violence against Hispanics and helping develop effective measures to reduce such violence. At the same time additional efforts, both supporting current programs and activities as well as identifying new violence-reduction opportunities and approaches, should include the following:

• Support for community-based violence intervention programs that are holistic and encourage participation by all stakeholders.

• Educational efforts to better inform Hispanics of the risks associated with bringing a firearm into the home as measured by increased risk for homicide, suicide, and unintentional firearm deaths compared to how rarely guns are used in justifiable homicides. This is especially important in the face of current coordinated efforts by the gun industry targeting Hispanics as potential first-time gun buyers.

• Improved access to resources for victims and survivors of domestic violence.

• Identification of anti-trafficking measures that could help interrupt the flow of illegal firearms into impacted communities.

Section One: Public Health and Crime Data

In 2024, the most recent year for which complete data is available, more than 5,300 Hispanics were killed by firearms in the United States. Between 2003 and 2024, more than 85,000 Hispanics were killed by guns (Table 1).

Table 1. Hispanic Firearm Deaths in the United States, 2003 — 20247

Year	Firearm homicide	Firearm suicide	Unintentional firearm deaths	Other firearm deaths*	Total firearm deaths
2003	2,316	835	71	97	3,319
2004	2,241	888	56	93	3,278
2005	2,453	824	95	97	3,469
2006	2,472	817	66	109	3,464
2007	2,385	931	65	111	3,492
2008	2,260	863	39	94	3,256
2009	2,115	955	47	85	3,202
2010	1,919	962	37	90	3,008
2011	1,831	946	52	118	2,947
2012	1,870	1,023	48	120	3,061
2013	1,750	1,034	49	118	2,951
2014	1,746	1,116	32	116	3,010
2015	2,021	1,162	37	112	3,332
2016	2,287	1,313	58	113	3,771
2017	2,268	1,423	50	143	3,884
2018	2,191	1,601	49	177	4,018
2019	2,301	1,534	60	163	4,058
2020	2,947	1,790	62	204	5,003
2021	3,455	2,037	65	184	5,741
2022	3,500	2,074	59	220	5,853
2023	3,284	2,198	63	202	5,747
2024	2,776	2,351	49	205	5,381
Total	52,388	28,677	1,209	2,971	85,245

*Other firearm deaths include legal intervention deaths and those of undetermined intent.

Figure 1. Rates of firearm homicide and firearm suicide among Hispanics, 2003 — 20247

After increasing rapidly during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hispanic firearm homicide rates decreased between 2022 and 2024, from 5.2 per 100,000 to 3.9 per 100,000 (Figure 1). However, firearm suicide rates have continued to steadily rise, from 2.6 per 100,000 in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 in 2024.

Homicide

In 2024, there were 3,776 Hispanic victims of homicide by all means in the United States (Table 2). The Hispanic homicide victimization rate for that year was 5.4 per 100,000, more than twice as high as the white homicide victimization rate of 2.6 per 100,000 (Table 3). The Hispanic firearm homicide victimization rate was also more than twice as high as the white firearm homicide victimization rate: 3.9 per 100,000 compared to 1.7 per 100,000. In comparison, the overall homicide victimization rate for that year was 6.2 per 100,000 and the firearm homicide victimization rate was 4.7 per 100,000. The Black homicide victimization rate was 23.8 per 100,000 (firearm homicide rate of 20.2 per 100,000), and the American Indian/Alaska Native homicide victimization rate was 13.7 per 100,000 (firearm homicide rate of 7.6 per 100,000).

Table 2. Homicides among Hispanic victims, 2003 — 20247

Year	Homicide victims	Homicide rate	Percentage killed with a firearm
2003	3,355	7.6	69.0%
2004	3,271	7.1	68.5%
2005	3,520	7.4	69.7%
2006	3,524	7.1	70.1%
2007	3,466	6.8	68.8%
2008	3,331	6.4	67.8%
2009	3,179	6.0	66.5%
2010	2,890	5.3	66.4%
2011	2,759	5.0	66.4%
2012	2,740	4.9	68.2%
2013	2,571	4.5	68.1%
2014	2,610	4.5	66.9%
2015	2,886	4.9	70.0%
2016	3,187	5.3	71.8%
2017	3,186	5.2	71.2%
2018	3,045	4.9	72.0%
2019	3,122	5.0	73.7%
2020	3,920	6.1	75.2%
2021	4,453	6.8	77.6%
2022	4,482	6.7	78.1%
2023	4,288	6.2	76.6%
2024	3,776	5.4	73.5%

Table 3. Death rates by race and ethnicity, 20247

	Firearm death rate	Homicide rate	Firearm homicide rate	Suicide rate	Firearm suicide rate
Hispanic	7.7	5.4	3.9	8.0	3.5
White	11.9	2.6	1.7	17.2	9.8
Black	26.4	23.8	20.2	8.7	5.3
AI/AN	18.1	13.7	7.6	22.5	8.8
Asian	2.8	1.3	0.8	6.6	1.8
All	12.8	6.2	4.7	13.7	7.6

In 2024, 73.5 percent of Hispanic homicide victims were killed with firearms (Table 2). Between 2003 and 2022, the percentage of Hispanic homicide victims killed with a firearm steadily increased from 69.0 percent to 78.1 percent. Similar to other populations, the percentage of Hispanic homicide victims killed with firearms has decreased slightly between 2022 and 2024 (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Percentage of homicides due to firearms by race and ethnicity, 2018 — 20247

According to 2024 FBI crime data, where the type of weapon used in the homicide could be determined for Hispanic victims, 54.0 percent of all gun homicides involved a handgun (Figure 3). In comparison, handguns were used in 52.2 percent of Black homicides involving a gun and 61.0 percent of white homicides involving a gun. Overall, handguns were the most prevalent firearm used in homicides in 2024 (54.5 percent).

Figure 3. Percentage of firearm homicides involving handguns, by race and ethnicity, 20246

Hispanic victims of firearm homicide are overwhelmingly male. In 2024, 85.7 percent of Hispanic victims of firearm homicide were male (Table 4). In comparison, 70.4 percent of white firearm homicide victims were male, as were 87.1 percent of Black victims, 80.8 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native victims, and 70.6 percent of Asian victims.

Table 4. Firearm homicide victims by race, ethnicity, and sex, 20247

	Male victims	Percent	Female victims	Percent	Total victims
Hispanic	2,378	85.7%	398	14.3%	2,776
White	2,266	70.4%	955	29.6%	3,221
Black	7,591	87.1%	1,128	12.9%	8,719
American Indian/Alaska Native	147	80.8%	35	19.2%	182
Asian	139	70.6%	58	29.4%	197

Hispanic males experience much higher homicide and firearm homicide rates compared to Hispanic females. Since 2014, both overall homicide and firearm homicide rates have increased substantially among Hispanic males, from 7.2 per 100,000 in 2014 to 11.0 per 100,000 in 2021 for overall homicide and 4.9 per 100,000 in 2014 to 8.7 per 100,000 in 2021 for firearm homicide (Table 5). Rates have decreased since then, dropping to 8.6 per 100,000 in 2024 for overall homicide and 6.5 per 100,000 for firearm homicide.

Rates have also increased among Hispanic females, though less drastically. For Hispanic females, the overall homicide rate increased from 1.6 per 100,000 in 2013 to 2.5 per 100,000 in 2022 and the firearm homicide rate increased from 0.8 per 100,000 in 2013 to 1.6 per 100,000 in 2022. Rates have decreased slightly since then, dropping to 2.0 per 100,000 in 2024 for overall homicide and 1.2 per 100,000 for firearm homicide.

Table 5. Hispanic homicide victims and firearm homicide victims by sex, 2003 — 20247

	Male				Female
Year	Homicide victims	Homicide rate	Firearm homicide victims	Firearm homicide rate	Homicide victims	Homicide rate	Firearm homicide victims	Firearm homicide rate
2003	2,809	12.1	2,069	8.3	546	2.7	247	1.2
2004	2,782	11.5	2,031	8.0	489	2.3	210	1.0
2005	3,008	12.0	2,211	8.4	512	2.3	242	1.1
2006	3,004	11.6	2,223	8.2	520	2.3	249	1.1
2007	2,926	11.0	2,133	7.7	540	2.2	252	1.1
2008	2,777	10.3	2,003	7.1	554	2.3	257	1.1
2009	2,635	9.7	1,881	6.6	544	2.2	234	0.9
2010	2,435	8.7	1,706	5.8	455	1.8	213	0.9
2011	2,279	8.0	1,595	5.4	480	1.8	236	0.9
2012	2,277	7.9	1,649	5.5	463	1.7	221	0.8
2013	2,132	7.3	1,530	5.1	439	1.6	220	0.8
2014	2,122	7.2	1,499	4.9	488	1.7	247	0.9
2015	2,391	7.9	1,761	5.6	495	1.8	260	0.9
2016	2,657	8.6	1,996	6.2	530	1.8	291	1.0
2017	2,588	8.2	1,936	6.0	598	2.1	332	1.1
2018	2,491	7.9	1,880	5.8	554	1.9	311	1.0
2019	2,534	7.9	1,955	5.9	588	2.0	346	1.2
2020	3,277	9.9	2,572	7.6	643	2.1	375	1.2
2021	3,694	11.0	2,992	8.7	759	2.4	463	1.5
2022	3,684	10.8	2,977	8.6	798	2.5	523	1.6
2023	3,513	10.0	2,784	7.8	775	2.3	500	1.5
2024	3,097	8.6	2,378	6.5	679	2.0	398	1.2

For instances where the relationship between victim and offender are known, Hispanic homicide victims are more likely to be killed by a stranger compared to all non-Hispanic victims except Asian victims. In 2024, 31.2 percent of Hispanic victims were killed by a stranger compared to 33.5 percent of Asian victims. Among Black homicide victims, 22.9 percent were killed by a stranger, as were 25.7 percent of white victims (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Percentage of homicide victims killed by a stranger, by race and ethnicity, 20246

Similar to non-Hispanic victims, where the homicide circumstances are known, homicides of Hispanic victims are usually not related to the commission of any other felony (84.0 percent, Figure 5).

Figure 5. Percentage of homicides that were not related to the commission of any other felony, by race and ethnicity, 20246

Suicide

In 2024, 43.7 percent of suicides in the Hispanic population involved firearms (Table 6). While the percentage of suicides involving a firearm decreased between 2003 and 2014 from 41.6 percent to 34.4 percent, this trend has since reversed, increasing to 43.7 percent in 2024 — the highest percentage over the past 22 years (Figure 6).

Table 6. Suicide among Hispanic victims, 2003 — 20247

Year	Suicide victims	Suicide rate	Percentage killed with a firearm
2003	2,007	5.6	41.6%
2004	2,207	5.9	40.2%
2005	2,188	5.6	37.7%
2006	2,177	5.3	37.5%
2007	2,465	6.0	37.8%
2008	2,345	5.5	36.8%
2009	2,573	5.8	37.1%
2010	2,661	5.9	36.2%
2011	2,720	5.7	34.8%
2012	2,837	5.8	36.1%
2013	2,865	5.7	36.1%
2014	3,246	6.4	34.4%
2015	3,303	6.2	35.2%
2016	3,668	6.7	35.8%
2017	3,933	6.9	36.2%
2018	4,313	7.5	37.1%
2019	4,331	7.3	35.4%
2020	4,571	7.5	39.2%
2021	4,907	7.9	41.5%
2022	5,122	8.0	40.5%
2023	5,281	8.0	41.6%
2024	5,382	8.0	43.7%

Figure 6. Percentage of suicides due to firearms among Hispanic victims, 2003  20247

In 2024 the Hispanic suicide rate was 8.0 per 100,000, lower than most other racial and ethnic groups except for the Asian population (Table 3). The Hispanic firearm homicide victimization rate was also among the lowest, at 3.5 per 100,000.

For all races and ethnicities, victims of firearm suicide are overwhelmingly male. In 2024, 87.6 percent of Hispanic victims of firearm suicide were male (Table 7), as were 86.8 percent of Black victims, 88.2 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native victims, 87.2 percent of white victims, and 83.1 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander victims.

Table 7. Firearm suicide victims by race, ethnicity and sex, 20247

	Male victims	Percent	Female victims	Percent	Total victims
Hispanic	2,060	87.6%	291	12.4%	2,351
White	19,047	87.2%	2,792	12.8%	21,839
Black	2,019	86.8%	306	13.2%	2,325
American Indian/Alaska Native	194	88.2%	26	11.8%	220
Asian	370	83.1%	75	16.9%	445

Hispanic males experience much higher suicide and firearm suicide rates compared to Hispanic females. Since 2015, both overall suicide and firearm suicide rates have increased among Hispanic males: from 10.0 per 100,000 in 2015 to 13.1 per 100,000 in 2023 for overall suicide and 4.1 per 100,000 in 2015 to 5.9 per 100,000 in 2023 for firearm suicide (Table 8). While suicide rates decreased slightly to 12.9 per 100,000 in 2024, firearm suicide rates increased slightly to 6.1 per 100,000.

Rates have also increased among Hispanic females — the overall suicide rate increased from 2.2 per 100,000 in 2012 to 3.0 per 100,000 in 2023 and remained stable at 3.0 per 100,000 in 2024, while the firearm suicide rate increased from 0.4 per 100,000 in 2012 to 0.9 per 100,000 in 2024.

Table 8. Hispanic suicide victims and firearm suicide victims by sex, 2003 — 20247

	Male				Female
Year	Suicide victims	Suicide rate	Firearm suicide victims	Firearm suicide rate	Suicide victims	Suicide rate	Firearm suicide victims	Firearm suicide rate
2003	1,711	9.9	774	4.6	296	1.7	61	0.3
2004	1,840	10.0	799	4.5	367	2.0	89	0.5
2005	1,841	9.6	756	4.1	347	1.8	68	0.3
2006	1,813	9.0	752	3.9	364	1.8	65	0.3
2007	2,078	10.3	855	4.5	387	1.8	76	0.4
2008	1,955	9.5	786	4.1	390	1.8	77	0.4
2009	2,135	9.9	863	4.3	438	2.0	92	0.4
2010	2,168	9.8	868	4.2	493	2.1	94	0.4
2011	2,224	9.5	857	3.9	496	2.0	89	0.4
2012	2,292	9.6	920	4.1	545	2.2	103	0.4
2013	2,279	9.3	910	3.8	586	2.3	124	0.5
2014	2,584	10.4	996	4.1	662	2.5	120	0.5
2015	2,587	10.0	1,017	4.1	716	2.7	145	0.5
2016	2,944	10.9	1,158	4.4	724	2.6	155	0.6
2017	3,175	11.3	1,252	4.6	758	2.7	171	0.6
2018	3,469	12.1	1,431	5.1	844	2.9	170	0.6
2019	3,445	11.6	1,350	4.6	886	3.0	184	0.6
2020	3,701	12.1	1,586	5.3	870	2.8	204	0.7
2021	3,967	12.7	1,795	5.9	940	3.0	242	0.8
2022	4,128	12.9	1,847	5.8	994	3.1	227	0.7
2023	4,304	13.1	1,949	5.9	977	3.0	249	0.8
2024	4,350	12.9	2,060	6.1	1,032	3.0	291	0.9

Section Two: Firearm Marketing to Latinos

Historically, the primary demographic targeted by the gun industry in its marketing efforts has been white males. This has changed as the traditional customer base is aging and dying off and gunmakers, to paraphrase a tobacco industry term, have failed to recruit a sufficient number of ‘replacement shooters’ to fill their thinning ranks.

While children and women have been the default targets of the industry in the wake of stagnation of the white male market, there has also been a growing focus on marketing guns, primarily for self-defense, to Latino, Black, and Asian Americans.

Historically, Black and Latino Americans have relatively low rates of gun ownership. Yet, the majority of both Blacks and Latinos, like most Americans, falsely believe “that a gun in the home is much more likely to be used to protect, rather than harm, members of the household.”8 This is despite the fact that guns, in any hands, are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes9 and that both the Black and Brown communities are disproportionately impacted by lethal gun violence.

It has been widely reported that the number of firearm purchases increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a significant number of individuals who had not previously owned a gun.10,12 Multiple studies showed that new gun owners were more likely to be Hispanic or Black than white.10,12 According to one study, among new gun owners in 2021, 20 percent were Hispanic.10 Recent estimates of firearm ownership indicate between 18 percent and 28 percent of Hispanics in the United States own guns or have a gun in their home.13-15 This is a lower percentage than white, non-Hispanics in the US.

However, compared to whites, Blacks and Latinos historically have shown stronger support for gun violence prevention measures. Between 2022 and 2024, the percentage of Hispanic survey respondents who reported favoring the requirement of a police permit prior to gun purchase increased from 69 percent to 75 percent.13 A survey of U.S. adults conducted in 2022 and 2024 found that 73 percent and 62 percent respectively of Hispanics said that it was more important to “control gun ownership” than it was to “protect the right of Americans to own guns.”16,17 Recognizing the continuing growth of the U.S. Latino population and the recent increase in gun ownership in this population, the potential benefits — both financial and political — to the firearms industry and its gun lobby financial partners such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) are clear.

The discussion of the need to focus on Black and Latino Americans is not new. As far back as 1997, a column in the gun industry publication Shooting Sports Retailer, bluntly titled “Gun industry must become less racist to survive in the 21st century,” warned:

[A]ll of the usual customers the industry reaches (people of Northern European descent) who wanted a gun, now have one.

The numbers of hunters, the mainstay of the industry, is not growing. Reliance on the time-honored method of indoctrination of father-to-son in the hunting tradition can no longer be counted on with the growing urbanization of America.

It is time for a pro-active approach to include those who have not traditionally participated in the shooting sports…A major effort needs to be made to include those groups who are presently referred to as America’s racial and ethnic minorities, but who are rapidly becoming the majority. And there is tremendous potential within this largely untapped market.16

In 2015, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the official trade association for the firearms industry, launched a long-term, organized, and coordinated effort targeting non-white potential gun owners. The birthplace of this marketing shift was the 2015 NSSF Industry Summit. As a press release issued by NSSF after the event explained:

The central theme of the 2015 Industry Summit, diversity, is one that proved the industry is preparing to significantly change the way it does business. ‘We’ve talked loosely about diversity for years,’ said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, ‘but there’s never been a cohesive effort across the industry as a whole to address this subject and innovate change. This year’s Industry Summit showed us that we’re about to experience a ground-swell shift in that attitude. Summit attendees came fully prepared, arriving with focused, on-point questions about what changes they need to make in their businesses to embrace a new consumer audience.’17

As seen by presentation slides shared on then-Twitter by Summit attendees, speakers offered overviews of the potential shooters they were targeting, breaking racial and ethnic groups down by “demographics,” “psychographics,” and “technographics.”

The demographics for “Hispanic Shooters” included: “11 years younger; Lower HHI [household income] and education (but higher than Hispanic overall); More likely to have kids in HH [household], multi-gen HH; More acculturated (49% acculturated, 41% bicultural.” Psychographics were listed as: “Less tough/independent guy, more group oriented; Influenced by pop culture and people around them; Much more trusting of advertising and celebrities; Enthusiastic, social, non-conformist; Likes introducing people to each other.” Technographics were listed as: “Highest level of mobile ownership; Tech savvy and comfortable with new technology; Extremely high engagement with social media; More likely to trust social Media, to post, to learn new [missing word].”

Following the Summit, then-NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Chris Dolnack discussed the trade association’s marketing efforts:

[O]ver the years many of us have discussed how to expand shooting participation numbers beyond the traditional predominance of Caucasian males. We’ve made tremendous strides in welcoming women into the sport in the past couple decades, but we haven’t been as successful when it comes to ethnic diversity. And the thing is, there are legions of African-American, Hispanic and Asian recreational and competitive shooters out there, as well as hunters, but they aren’t part of the greater family of gun enthusiasts most are familiar with. We need to change that, need to create the avenues that will welcome these shooters into the fold, and that’s what this year’s Summit focused on.18

Or as NSSF president and CEO Steve Sanetti summarized, “What a difference this is from just a few years ago when the industry was lamenting that it was becoming stale, male and pale.” 19

The same year as the Industry Summit announcing the gun industry’s new “diversity” focus, NSSF issued a research report titled “A Hispanic Market Study: Firearms and the Shooting Sports”

That same year, on its NRA Family website, under the headline “American Hispanics: The Newest Second Amendment Enthusiasts,” the National Rifle Association enthusiastically cited the findings of NSSF’s research on Latinos:

There is a market out there that is 57 million strong, has a buying power approaching $1 trillion and, for many, have a positive interest in firearms and the shooting sports. Can you guess who it might be? The answer might surprise you: our American Hispanic population. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) commissioned a study to learn more about Hispanics’ interests in firearms and the shooting sports. The study showed that, of the Hispanics surveyed, 18 percent own firearms and 25 percent would like to, 41 percent have been to a shooting range and 42 percent would attend a training class or seek firearms instruction…This is valuable information! This survey has informed us of a barely tapped population that can broaden our pro-gun community, increase participation in the shooting sports and boost NRA membership and our political presence. 20

While the majority of industry advertising targeting communities of color has focused on Black Americans, efforts targeting Latinos continue.

Below is an Instagram post from pistol manufacturer Glock promoting its handguns as being “GLOCK Strong. Based on community. Built on connections.” The photo makes sure that the viewer can see the female officer’s Rodriguez name tag.

A magazine ad from gun manufacturer Kel-Tec promoting its KS7 shotgun for home defense specifically targets Latina women in its marketing.