The 11% Gun Tax
There's an 11% federal tax baked into nearly every gun and box of ammo in America — and most owners have never heard of it. The twist: it isn't general revenue. Almost all of it funds wildlife conservation, making hunters and shooters the country's single biggest source of conservation dollars.
archery (10% handguns)
agencies for 2025
since 1937
every year
What the 11% Actually Is
Its real name is the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937 — the Pittman-Robertson Act — signed by Franklin Roosevelt and quietly working ever since. It sets an excise tax of 11% on long guns, ammunition and archery gear, and 10% on handguns, charged upstream at the manufacturer. It's not a sales tax on your receipt; it's already folded into the shelf price — and it goes somewhere very specific.
How the Money Moves
You Buy
Makers pay 11% on every gun and round of ammo (10% handguns) — built into the counter price.
Treasury Collects
It lands in a dedicated conservation fund — not the general budget. By law it can only fund wildlife work.
States Get Paid
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service splits it across all 50 states — half by land area, half by hunting licenses.
Where the Money Goes
Habitat & Wildlife
Restoring the wetlands, forests, grasslands and big-game range that game and non-game species depend on.
Hunter Education
The safety courses that put new hunters and shooters into the field knowing what they're doing.
Public Shooting Ranges
A set-aside share builds and maintains public ranges — places to sight in, train and shoot legally.
Access & Public Land
Opening land for hunting, fishing and recreation — keeping the outdoors open to everyone.
Gun owners are America's biggest conservationists.
Not by accident — by design. The industry asked for this tax in 1937, and shooters have funded it every year since. More than $29 billion later, the deer, elk, turkey and waterfowl comebacks of the last century were largely paid for at the gun counter. It's the rare tax that does exactly what it says — and it's working right now.
Common Questions
Is the 11% gun tax new?+
Does it go to the general government budget?+
How much does it raise, and who pays?+
Bottom line: next time someone calls gun owners a threat to the outdoors, the math is backwards. Every purchase — including here at Pyrost — quietly funds the habitat, ranges and access the whole country enjoys.
Figures reflect publicly reported Pittman-Robertson apportionments from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and industry sources; annual amounts vary with sales. General information, not tax or legal advice.