Are Gun Consumers Sick of the Semi-Autos?
Dr. John Woods 10.02.17
Have sales of the ubiquitous concealed weapon semi-auto pistols just about peaked? There have been a number of new dynamics within the past six months in terms of dealer gun sales and the gun business in general. Sales have definitely slowed down.
“I have sold one personal protection semi-auto since January in my small shop,” says Vernon Graves of Renegade Sporting Goods in Seminary, Mississippi. “Sales of small, pocket pistols and concealed carry pistols have really slowed down. I am just not selling those guns right now.”
First, frankly, since the political landscape has changed so dramatically gun buyers no longer feel stressed to load up on extra guns and ammo. As we know now, Obama was the best gun sales person in American history with the last quarter of last year demonstrating record background checks for gun purchases by the BATF.
That fury has ground to a virtual halt since Trump was elected. Gun owners feel confident that our 2nd Amendment rights are now safe, though that fight in the congressional trenches will continue. Make no mistake that the anti-gun forces continue to work against gun owner rights.
Second, as a casual observer that works every gun show here on a near monthly basis with a federally licensed gun dealer, I get to see the inventory of 200-300 dealers over a single weekend. Tables are full of this classification of CCW type pistols. Every gun maker has virtually maxed out the number of different models of .380 ACP and 9mm pocket pistols and the marketplace is jam packed saturated.
Part of the confusion on behalf of the gun buying consumer is the sheer number of pistol models available for purchase consideration. At gun shows our job is to help buyers pick the best pistol for their needs, and personal grip fit. Women in particular will pick up nearly every pistol on the table, as they should. They often just walk away totally baffled about what to buy.
As noted, every manufacturer of pistols of this genre have multiple models of different sizes, calibers and features. These include Smith and Wesson, SIG, Ruger, Walther, Glock, Beretta, Browning, Colt, CZ, Kahr, Kel-Tec, Kimber, Remington, Springfield Armory, Taurus and more.
For gun buyers it is a great time to shop and buy a new personal protection handgun. Sales may be down, the market may be saturated now, but hopefully the gun economy will level out and stabilize in the near future.
