February 23, 2026

Gearfire Provides Complimentary Access to Annual Industry Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF^®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, announces Affinity Partner Gearfire has released its Annual Industry Report in a free, open-access format to benefit NSSF members.

“We are pleased to share NSSF Affinity Partner Gearfire has graciously provided NSSF members with a complimentary copy of its 2025 Annual Industry Report, which includes a 2026 market forecast,” said Salam Fatohi, NSSF Director, Research. “This report from Gearfire is intended for informational purposes and offers aggregated, high-level insights to support industry awareness and planning.”

The report provides a data-driven view of activity at the retail level, enabling businesses in the firearm industry to make informed decisions on trends impacting sales at the counter for handguns, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, optics and suppressors.

Some high-level takeaways from the report include:

• 2026 Market Outlook: Data from Gearfire’s RetailBI Firearm Sales Index shows 2025 same-store new firearm unit sales declined approximately 13 percent from 2024 levels. Given current market conditions and the absence of a meaningful demand catalyst, Gearfire predicts 2026 will likely represent another year of declining firearm unit sales, with a projected 7–12 percent drop.

• New Retail Firearms: Sales of new retail firearms dropped year-over-year (YOY) in 2025, led by shotguns (-16 percent) and rifles (-15.4 percent). Despite sales declining 11.5 percent YOY, handguns continued to outperform — with semi-automatic handguns remaining the highest-volume firearm category. Comparing 2025 figures to a pre-pandemic baseline of 2019, retailers sold 10.5 percent fewer new firearms last year. Retailers continued to reduce inventory in 2025, with year-end firearm inventory down 10.6 percent YOY and approximately 3 percent below 2019 levels. Additional detailed data, separated by firearm type, is available in the free report.

• Ammunition: Same-store ammunition unit sales declined 12.4 percent YOY in 2025, with revenue down 16.7 percent. Average ammunition prices dropped 4.8 percent YOY, reflecting increasing price pressure as retailers work through elevated inventory levels in a softer market. Compared to 2019 levels, 2025 same-store ammunition sales represented an increase of 2.6 percent.

• Optics: In optics (riflescopes and red dots), same-store sales dropped 14.7 percent YOY in 2025, with revenue down 14.8 percent. However, compared to pre-pandemic levels, combined sales of scopes and optics in 2025 resulted in a 38.2 percent increase — largely driven by red dot adoption, with sales of red dots more than doubling (121 percent) in 2025 compared to 2019.

• Suppressors: Following an exceptionally strong 2024, same-store suppressor unit sales declined 19.3 percent in 2025. Revenue in the category was down 19.6 percent. Gearfire attributes some of this drop to a change in consumer behavior, as some buyers likely delayed suppressor purchases in anticipation of the elimination of the $200 federal tax stamp. Inventory levels increased 21.8 percent YOY, reflecting improved availability following prior supply constraints and retailer positioning ahead of potential demand acceleration tied to the removal of the tax stamp. Average suppressor prices were stable, declining 0.5 percent YOY.

While this report provides a broad overview of the market, RetailBI has the capability to provide granular retail analysis down to the brand, model and UPC level.

“Retail data reveals what’s actually selling, what’s slowing and where inventory pressure will show up next. It helps manufacturers and distributors protect margin, allocate resources intelligently, and act before the market forces discounting,” said Kaleb Seymour, Gearfire Vice President of Data Analytics. “In this environment, the competitive edge isn’t optimism. It’s visibility.”

The entirety of the Gearfire 2025 Annual Industry Report is available here. It’s one of many business intelligence assets available to NSSF members.

“This intelligence report, in addition to other intelligence resources in the NSSF member portal — such as NSSF-Adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figures and the GunBroker.com Monthly Sales report — provide NSSF members with information that can help them make more educated business decisions,” Fatohi said. “We encourage members to access these valuable benefits and explore how business intelligence can help inform their business.”

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About NSSF

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.

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NSSF Media contact:
Bill Brassard
203-426-1320 ext. 212

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