Elk NetworkRecord Excise Tax Collections Fuel Conservation Funding

General | May 5, 2021

A new National Shooting Sports Foundation report shows Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax collections for the fourth quarter of the 2020 calendar year totaled $267.5 million, marking an increase of more than 70 percent from the last quarter of 2019 and another record quarter for contributions.

Those excise taxes on guns and ammunition are funneled for conservation work thanks to the Pittman-Robertson (P-R) Act of 1927. Given the latest statistics, lifetime P-R dollars now total more than $13.8 million which are distributed to state and federal agencies for a wide range of conservation and recreational projects.

Collectively, hunters and those who purchase firearms and ammunition are the single-largest source of wildlife conservation funding. Translation: Hunting Is Conservation!

See the infographic below provided by the National Shooting Sports Foundation that shows how wildlife thrives thanks to guns, hunting and the excise tax program.

(Photo source:  West Virginia Division of Natural Resources & Infographic source: National Shooting Sports Foundation)