Man this article sent to me by the lovely wife is full of silliness!
Sales dropped 7.6% through the end of June, compared to the first half of last year, according to CRT Research.
Gun enthusiasts simply aren’t as worried about new federal gun restrictions going into effect, the way they were in 2013, so there is a lot less urgency for people to run out and buy assault weapons while they still can.
President Obama tried to pass a gun bill last year that would have restricted military-style semiautomatic rifles, but the legislation failed in the Senate.
“The number one driver in this sector, for the big sales spikes, has been fear – fear of legislation,” said CRT analyst Brian Ruttenbur.
Except there is still anti-gun legislation being proposed all over the nation. Now granted the peril is not as immediate as it was just post-Newtown, but it’s still there. We must keep fighting.
Still fighting bad laws doesn’t require more guns. What required more guns was bringing new people into the gun-owning fold, and the relatively recent gun scare did just that. More Americans are waking up and deciding to buy guns. Still this is nothing close to 100% of Americans, or 100% of the Americans who didn’t first own guns, or own guns which were under threat of bans.
Still how many guns can people buy? There are still lots of guns I want, but I’m not made of money, so I buy one or two, and keep my eyes out for good deals, but I’m not buying a new gun every day, or even every month.
Tried to buy .22 Recently? It simply isn’t there, and what is there is really priced above it’s true market value. I was in my favorite shop the other day, and there was every centerfire cartridge I could ever want there, but I didn’t want any of that, I wanted 0.454″ pistol balls, and .22. They didn’t have either. Well the balls were a niche product, but the .22 is a ubiquitous product.
Why is the .22 gone? Well it’s the core of training and plinking, and the new shooters that have recently bought guns need to log range time, and the best thing to do that with is .22.
Gunmakers like Smith & Wesson (SWHC) and Colt say that while rifle sales are dropping, sales of handguns are climbing.
Ruttenbur said this is partly because more people are applying for concealed carry permits, which allow them to carry concealed handguns in public places. Handguns are also popular among the growing demographic of women.
“Women don’t want a Dirty Harry magnum,” said Ruttenbur. “They want a pretty little gun that fits into a pocket book along with their cell phone.”
This has NOTHING to do with legislation, this has EVERYTHING to do with people waking up to their own personal safety.
So no, we are not “done” stockpiling guns, we just got phase one done, and that will help us continue to fight the good fight. Those guns are not going to go bad, or get used up. Remember we only have two arms!
Sales dropped 7.6% through the end of June
Notice how carefully they don’t mention the numbers? Yeah, the list December 2012 with 2.8 MILLION background checks but they don’t say how many currently. It’s almost as if they don’t want people to realize how many guns are actually being bought.
What required more guns was bringing new people into the gun-owning fold, and the relatively recent gun scare did just that.
And don’t forget the trickle down affects. Cousin Joe buys a handgun and let’s Cousin Bill, Bill’s wife and 3 or 4 other people who have never shot try it. Even if they don’t go out and buy a firearm; they are less likely to support gun control laws because they know Joe is a good guy and if people like him are buying guns…..maybe it shouldn’t be too hard.
That is why polling is always shown to have high support but the actual laws never get passed; people realize who the laws will impact or how restrictive they would be.
Well, I think the Firearms Market is Saturated right now. Why? Because at my Favorite Ye Olde Gun Shoppe, there’s 3 MForgery’s sitting on the Used Rack for sale at $595, and there’s no takers.
Compare that to March 2013, when an Acquaintance was happy to get one at the local Gun Show for $1500.
But .22LR? I’m not sure that THAT many New Shooters bought AR “Trainers” and that’s ALL they’re Shooting. But since most Indoor Ranges in my Neck of the Woods won’t let you shoot any thing Bigger in a Long Gun (Shotguns excepted), I could be wrong. There just aren’t that many 100 yard+ Ranges any more to get in Good Rifle Training. At least not by me, that I don’t have to drive 2+ hours each way. Too many McMansions went up, and then the Yuppies complained about “Stray Bullets”, etc.
Hopefully, .22LR will start to drop soon. Hopefully.