Gun Sales Boom Spurred by First-Time Buyers
We all know that gun and ammo sales have risen dramatically in recent months. Firearms sales through large retailers are up 39% compared to last year, according to SportsOneSource, a company that provides research for the outdoor industry.
What may be surprising is that there is a “new audience” of Americans who are buying firearms for the first time. Gun vendors are reporting a major increase in firearm purchases by novice shooters and first-time gun-owners. According to a recent article on the Time Magazine website, Americans who have never owned a gun before are now motivated to arm themselves: “A new market of gun buyers is emerging. [Oklahoma Gunshop owner] Miles Hall estimates that some 80% of his sales since the election have been to first- and second-time gun purchasers, many nervous that this may be their last chance.” According to the Time article, many Americans are purchasing firearms due to fears that crime may rise as the economy falters: “Americans are afraid of this economy. As a result, they’re getting locked and loaded.”
In sporting goods stores nationwide, and on internet gun forums, people are wondering “where has all the ammo gone?” Well, based on the sales of firearms, the answer may be that ammo supplies are being snapped up by the same folks who are buying guns for the first time.
It is nice to see so many new shooters. I am sure that with the cost of ammunition, we have a bunch of new reloaders too!
Typical spin from Time (to portray gun owners/buyers as paranoid, etc.) – concerns over potential increases in crime may be playing a small part in this, but I feel pretty confident that most is due to concerns that guns and ammo will soon become over-regulated or taxed virtually out of existence, in either case becomming unavailable.