The Great Trump Slump of Gun Sales
Kevin Felts 09.09.17
In the coming years, gun company CEOs will wake up in a cold sweat thinking about the great 2017 Trump slump of gun sales.
After Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016, gun sales tanked. From there, sales continued to decline through 2017. Things have gotten so bad, the decline has an official name: “Trump Slump.”
We have talked about the slump in gun sales several times here on All Outdoor:
Gun Sales Drop Estimated 20 Percent 2016 – 2017
Looking For a Gun Deal, Look Local
Passing Up a Buyer’s Market
Since those articles were published, more bad news has been announced.
From The Guardian – US gun makers battle ‘Trump slump’ as sales fall compared to 2016.
For one of America’s largest gun manufacturers, the “Trump slump” in sales has meant a nearly $100m fall in firearms revenue compared with the same quarter last year.
American Outdoor Brands, the rebranded name of historic gun company Smith & Wesson, reported a 48.5% decrease in firearms revenue compared with the same quarter last year, when many Americans believed Hillary Clinton, a supporter of gun control, would be elected president.
Shipments of long guns were down 57% in the latest quarter, president and chief executive James Debney said in an earnings call on Thursday.
A 57% reduction in shipments over the previous quarter is reason for concern. The honest truth is, we should all be worried. Gun companies rely on sportsmen, and we are letting those companies down.
Opinion
Gun prices are at an all-time low and the market is saturated with all kinds of magazines, accessories, and military-style firearms. Even with companies almost begging people to buy, we consumers are not forking out our cash.
So, are we as a community going to wait until gun-grabbing Democrats are back in power, and then binge-spend once again? When the next Democratic President opens his mouth about a gun ban, people will be lining up to buy AR-15s, but will the companies still be there?
Kind of a shame that shooters and sportsmen are often reactionary spenders.
What about me? I have been buying a firearm every couple of months for the past year. I currently have a nice old Marlin 336 on layaway.
Buy Something
The gun grabbers are probably laughing themselves to sleep every night. Rather than stockpiling while prices are low, sportsmen are passing up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Gun companies should not be posting losses, they should be posting record sales. So, get out there and buy something.
