National Firearms companies fret as background checks level off, anti-gun activists push

[Joe Link]

Firearms companies fret as background checks level off, anti-gun activists push

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[American123]

Firearms companies fret as background checks level off, anti-gun activists push

Thought summer was generally a slow month for sales anyway. People are going on vacations and doing work on houses.

For me it's more about saturation than anything. The industry does live off of each subsequent generation procuring more firearms though so if the anti-gun folks can largely convince subsequent generations that they don't need firearms, the industry will decline over time.

 

[AMT]

Folks have had a great time buying for the past few years. I think this may be indication that folks have gotten everything that they've "wanted". Now it's just people looking for things that look "interesting" and "fun".

 

[etrain16]

Temporary slump, maybe. Gun owners, in general, I think, are a bit more relaxed with Trump in office and Republicans in Congress - even though they're not really working very hard to use that fact to benefit gun owners. Change that balance and let anti's get back in control and I guarantee as soon as they make another big national push for gun control, those sales will skyrocket again. No need to panic, the manufacturers just need to ride it out until the next Democrat win. They are the best gun salespeople out there.

 

[SA Shooter]

Fake Fake Fake...that libtard rag called the Washington Post is making things up again. What's sad is they think they are good at it. It's the same thing as the 30 second soundbite on the evening news without facts to support it.

While background checks may have leveled off, who is fretting over it? What are the causes besides the buzz words "Parkland-driven activism" and one unsupported report? I see no corroborating reports, data, interviews with gun manufacturers, etc....

It's all about filling a daily quota for filing web reports.

 

[wewaits]

I would like to think it's because people have come to their senses. Guns are durable goods and don't wear out very often. The last big binge buying periods were brought on by fear of gun confiscation and limitation, neither happened. I hope the silver lining in this is that manufacturers go back to making quality instead of quantity. There seem to be an awful lot of new manufacturers out there making so so product and selling it on the basis of fear mongering or price point. I notice Sig and Smith polymer handguns going for the same price as traditionally more bargain basement brands. I for one won't buy firearms based on the fear of law changes or confiscation, it just doesn't make sense, I don't need more 22 rifles, one 22 revolver will last me for the rest of my life. I have yet to wear out a shotgun or a semi automatic pistol. I see new stuff and I want to buy it if it replaces what I have with better features. I tend to spend more time fixing, polishing and shooting my older revolvers than anything else. A small carry gun or a defensive rifle don't get shot enough by most people to wear them out and if they do there are plenty to replace them with so I don't buy into the gotta have it mentality. I see new cars and trucks I want but I don't go running out to buy them. When what I have works for what I need it for I don't see the reason to spend money that could be spent on other tools I need, or home improvement or growing in a retirement fund. The gun manufacturers either need to create groundbreaking new products or make what they are making to a higher standard. A hundred years from now I just don't see a Glock or a no name AR derivative being cherished as a family heirloom or being used as a working firearm the way old revolvers and rifles and even a few semi autos are now. The manufacturers that got used to the panic money rolling in and didn't budget for lean times have no one to blame but themselves. No one will bail them out and no one should. I felt the same way about Chrysler and the big banks but unfortunately we did and now Chrysler is an Italian owned American company that makes most of its cars and trucks in Mexico and the big banks are right back to the same practices that broke them last time.

 

[The Heretic]

Thought summer was generally a slow month for sales anyway. People are going on vacations and doing work on houses.

For me it's more about saturation than anything. The industry does live off of each subsequent generation procuring more firearms though so if the anti-gun folks can largely convince subsequent generations that they don't need firearms, the industry will decline over time.

Saturation is a good word for it.

2016 and 2017 were years for heavy spending on firearms, ammo and SHTF gear for me. I scaled way back on that at the beginning of the year due to finances and 'saturation'. Ammo I am still going to buy, but firearms I will only buy when I see an offer I can't refuse - i.e., such high value at low cost I can't pass it up. Otherwise, I will be buying holsters, optics/etc., enhancements (including gun-smithing) and other accessories for the firearms I already have.

The article has it backwards - sales decline not because we feel the heat, but because we are comfortable with the status quo. It is wishful thinking on the part of the anti-gunners and they surely know that - or rather, it is spin on their part.

 

[Superglide]

I thought I had procured all the guns I needed.
But I was mistaken. Not the first time.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Guitar companies fret. Gun companies rifle.

sheesh

 

[awshoot]

Here's an actual quote:

While not a perfect correlation, background checks are considered a yardstick of overall sales, and June's 1.9 million hits on the FBI's national instant check system, while up slightly compared to 2017, were far from the monthly records set in March, April and May ...

So OK -- June 2018 NICS checks are higher than June 2017, and the previous three months had set records. What is there to fret about?

Also note, this was "The Washington TImes" not the "Washington Post". TWT is generally conservative I think, but still, the article seems intentionally and irrationally alarmist.

 

[bolus]

1.7 million background checks for July last year, 1.8 million this year. a 5.8% increase.
BMW car sales in the same months only went up 0.7%
Total sales of Durable goods in the US is only up 3.6% during that time
Iphone sales are up 0.4% over the same time and Apple is now worth a Trillion dollars.

I'd say the gun industry is having a booming July compared to other major industries, so why the negative tone Washington Times? Could it be.... BIAS?

 

[bolus]

Here's an actual quote:


So OK -- June 2018 NICS checks are higher than June 2017, and the previous three months had set records. What is there to fret about?

Also note, this was "The Washington TImes" not the "Washington Post". TWT is generally conservative I think, but still, the article seems intentionally and irrationally alarmist.

ahh, beat me to it

 

[American123]

Saturation is a good word for it.

2016 and 2017 were years for heavy spending on firearms, ammo and SHTF gear for me. I scaled way back on that at the beginning of the year due to finances and 'saturation'. Ammo I am still going to buy, but firearms I will only buy when I see an offer I can't refuse - i.e., such high value at low cost I can't pass it up. Otherwise, I will be buying holsters, optics/etc., enhancements (including gun-smithing) and other accessories for the firearms I already have.

The article has it backwards - sales decline not because we feel the heat, but because we are comfortable with the status quo. It is wishful thinking on the part of the anti-gunners and they surely know that - or rather, it is spin on their part.

Liberals largely don't understand the concept of economics or supply and demand. Any disbelief to the contrary and all you have to do is observe how many of them openly champion socialism.

 

[Stomper]

Guitar companies fret. Gun companies rifle.

sheesh

That is a half-cocked comparison.... needs more whammy-bar.

 

[shibbershabber]

I hope gun manufacturers see the writing on the wall with the latest waves of anti-gun sentiment washing over the country.

Sure, its mostly manufactured BS... but we have an entire generation coming up for whom being into guns is the same as walking downtown Portland with a MAGA hat. They are not successful in federal legislation, and only successful in mostly liberal states... Those successes are focused on killing the sport for young people.

The anti-gun movement has punted in a way. Sure they are still taking it on in state houses and at the ballot box.... but there is a huge focus on disarming the 18-21 crowd and making guns taboo in every way for the under 18 crowd.

I predict that my son or maybe a future grandson will not be able to have the same gun rights as I currently have.

Liberalism is a constant wave eroding at Conservatism. Not that long ago it was ok for a dem to be against gay marriage.... how about now?
There was a time when they advocated for tariffs and avoiding the huge free trade deals like TPP and GATT, etc. Now? well, seems they have changed their tune...
10 years ago you would have been hard pressed to get Dems to publicly advocate for allowing boys in the girls locker room because they 'felt' they were supposed to be girls... Now? God help you if you dont toe that line.....

The fringe will keep hammering away until they hit something good. Little by little.

Anyhow... its the gun industry that will suffer in all of this. Im not sure what their percentage of business if civilian market vs LE/Mil... but Id wager that the loss of or the severe reduction of civilian sales will devastate them.
Id like to see them get more proactive in defending the 2nd Amendment

 

[The Heretic]

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Could be many reasons for the slump in sales...
Summer time...

Poor reporting / research / bias , in regards to the article...

Sales of anything tend tend go and down ....

Folks not complying with BGC's for private sales...

People who bought a gun on someone's ban list or during a "panic buy period"...may just be happy with only one gun...
( Strange thought , being satisfied with only owning one gun....but it takes all kinds... )

In the case of the AR15 types of rifles...many folks have bought more than one lower at a time...so a BGC , at the time of that sale...but when they build a new rifle....we have another new rifle* ...but no BGC...so numbers of guns vs. BGC's may be skewed....

Gun companies being what they are...I am sure they are not worried about any sales slump...
'Cause we all should know from their sales marketing and sales wordage....the new spiffy rifle we just bought last year...is suddenly outdated and outclassed , by this year's brand new shiny rifle....
Andy

*As in a "new" complete working rifle...not just a "rifle" , for purposes of the original BGC , 'cause the lower has a serial number...

 

[oneharmonic]

Fake Fake Fake...that libtard rag called the Washington Post is making things up again.

The story is from The Washington Times, which is conservative and a paper that Trump often links to in his Tweets.

From the story:

American Outdoor Brands — the parent company of Smith & Wesson — said in its latest recent annual financial report that total net sales dropped 33 percent and sales from its firearms products dropped 42 percent in their budget year that ran from May 2017 through April, and warned that the lean times could continue.​

This isn't about NICS checks, it's about sales. We already saw Remington go bankrupt earlier this year because of the Trump Slump.