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Several industry developments indicate the post-pandemic decline in gun sales may finally be coming to a halt. The most widely publicized barometer is the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s (NSSF) monthly estimate of gun sales. The organization’s comparison of January’s purchases to the same month in 2025 reflects a barely palpable decline of 0.7 percent. NSSF just issued its February’s findings. Roughly 1,265,320 gun purchases resulted in the buyer’s name being cleared through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system. That’s a 3.5 percent improvement over February 2025. There are other hints the long-awaited stabilization—and potential rebound—has arrived. Here are a…

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The need to be prepared to defend one’s self in an increasingly uncivil, hostile world is apparent. I strongly recommend the daily carriage of a defensive sidearm, backed up by a reliable edged weapon whenever possible, and I strongly encourage regular practice with these essential tools. More important than simply having hardware is cultivating the mindset of awareness and preparedness. But all too often, our increasingly intrusive nanny state governments, both national and local, enact laws and encourage policies designed to disarm us in public places. Some jurisdictions will go out of their way to prosecute any use of armed…

Richard “Dick” Hyman turns 99 today! (He was born March 8, 1927.) Dick Hyman is a jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, pioneering electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters fellow in 2017. — March 8th is also the birthday of famed revolver shooter, big game hunter, and gun writer Elmer Keith, who co-designed the S&W .44 Magnum and .41 Magnum cartridges. He authored the book Sixguns, which is still considered a standard reference. His fascinating life story is told…

Billed as the oldest continuously operating rifle club in the United States, though several other clubs also claim the title, the Newport Rifle Club (NRC) near Middletown, R.I., is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026. It’s not the NRC’s longevity that’s headline-worthy; it’s also the fact membership is way up and shows no signs of slowing. The secret to the longevity, according to officials interviewed by American Rifleman, is a mix of community outreach programs, hearty mix of competitions, dedication to safety and family-friendly atmosphere. The fact it was established long ago by one of the era’s most accomplished long-distance…

United Kingdom manufacturer Shield Sights is a pioneer in the field of electronic optics on handguns for competition and self-defense. While most of the company’s contributions were behind the scenes, its introduction of the RMSc (Reflex Mini Sight Compact) brought the red dot into the mainstream for compact, concealed carry firearms. New for 2026, the company is bringing out its latest product, the OSMx, a micro red dot designed for competitive shooting. The Shield OSMx takes the OMSsc sight introduced last year and gives it a larger lens. The OSMx is based on the OMSsc (Open Mini Sight subcompact) introduced…

While shotguns provide a host of benefits, one of the most overlooked is that they are a fair bit quieter than most pistols and rifles. To that end, adding a suppressor to one only expands their versatility. Suppressing a shotgun is easier said than done, though, as options are limited, and mounting one involves using the threads that normally hold a choke. Alas, at that point, weight becomes an issue, as shotgun shells require more suppressor volume to house and vent the enormous amount of gas created when they are fired. Taking these issues into account, Yankee Hill Machine (YHM)…

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