As the mid-term elections near, media outlets and politicians are trying to make the case that fewer gun sales in 2014 means that gun-rights voters won’t turn out on Nov. 4. But there’s likely a simpler answer, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
“Those who are hostile to firearms ownership are trying to suggest sales are off in 2014 because people are no longer interested in owning guns, which is contradicted when you consider sales have risen for ten years, that last year was the highest year ever and that studies show increases in first-time gun owners and women buying guns,” said NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti.
From Bloomberg BusinessWeek: “What the industry really needs is a few lawmakers advocating a gun-control bill. That’s what pushed the gun business to record highs last year in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings. Those fears, however, have largely abated, and gun sales have gone with them.” From CNN: “Sales of guns and ammo are losing steam after a frenzied run-up sparked by fears of greater restrictions in the wake of the Newtown shooting and other massacres.” From Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy (D-CT): Malloy’s re-election campaign released a 30-second commercial seeks to paint Republican challenger Tom Foley as beholden to the gun lobby and a threat to the sweeping firearms restrictions Connecticut lawmakers enacted in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Last year was an extraordinary one for firearm sales, a year unlike any other in the industry’s history. That’s a fact to be mindful of when comparing estimated sales through the first seven months of 2014 with those of the previous year, notes Sanetti.
Remove the extraordinary 2013 from the rear-view mirror and sales of firearms in America still show an almost uninterrupted rise over the past 10 years, according to national background check figures adjusted by NSSF to reflect market activity. For the first seven months of 2014, total firearm sales rank as the highest in the last decade, with the one big exception of 2013 (see chart).
From January through July 2014, NSSF-adjusted NICS figures total 6.95 million background checks against 6.85 million for 2012 and 5.64 million in 2011. In 2013, the seven-month figure was 8.81 million and the annual total was a record 14.8 million. Multiple factors account for last year’s sales surge, including a fear of additional firearms-ownership restrictions, which came to pass in states such as New York, Connecticut and Maryland, as well as increasing interest in owning firearms by women and former servicemen and women.
“The sky certainly is not falling,” Sanetti added. “To me, firearm sales data through the first seven months is saying our industry is experiencing a ‘new normal.’ Like a rocket ship, we’ve returned to Earth, but we haven’t gone back in time. With 2014 on track to be one of the highest sales years in a decade, I call that a sign of a healthy industry serving a passionate, growing customer base.” Sanetti said he’s not surprised at the current sales market. “People in our business know it is hugely difficult to match a historic, unprecedented surge in customers buying all types of firearms,” he said. He pointed out that during conversations last January with representatives of exhibiting firearms companies at the industry’s annual trade show, the SHOT Show, hardly anyone was expecting sales to match the numbers those from 2013. “They were realistic in expecting and planning for a normalization,” Sanetti said.
Said Sanetti, “Over the last decade, the market has spoken: Citizens around the country have exercised their constitutional right to purchase a great variety of firearms for target shooting, hunting and personal and home protection. I’m optimistic we’ll see a strong finish to this year. And contrary to the naysayers, both the violent crime rate and fatal accidents with firearms have decreased about 19 percent and 22 percent during the past decade which saw these great increases in the number of firearms being purchased by more Americans. That’s the most gratifying news of all.”
Every high ranking leftist in Washington started out as a small town or local (loco?) government hack. This is why we need to vote for the small boring offices even if we know the big ones are lost. NIP them in the bud. If you pull the weeds when they are small they don’t go to seed.
MOLON LABE!!!
But what happens to that 4473?? Does your state use it to build a database for future searchs? Or does the BATF do the same when it makes inspection visits a retailer and goes through their files (including your 4473). Perhaps the best thing is to buy a parcel of land and bury your stuff in waterproof containers. Form an LLC so your name doesn’t show up on the assessor records. Oh, I know—you actually believe the state or feds when they tell you that they are prohibited from building a database…….dream on.
I suspect the powers of darkness also read these and other blogs. If they can get info on Al Qaeda they can crack in to CTD and get our IP addresses.
Over the last couple of weeks we have had one of the most commented on topics . 273+ posts on “if you could have only 3 guns”. We have put it all out there for them to see.
I love the time I get to spend on line and all the good info and a chance to vent. But I think we may blab too much.
I agree with Gerald. I got my CHL this year, and I know many of my coworkers did the same last year and this year. With a CHL in Texas there is no NICS, I assume it is the same in many other states.
I don’t have any gun sales figures for this year so my premise is just a guess. In Texas, if one has a concealed carry permit, they don’t have to go through a NICS check. You simply fill out a portion of the Form 4473 and you’re on your way in a few minutes.
Concealed Carry permits are up all over the nation and that fact could account for the drop in NICS checks. That’s assuming other states CC programs allow similar buying situations.
Facts are a nuisance to the Lamestream Media. They are laser-focused on the drop, not that 2013 was unusually high. After all, they are too lazy to inform the sheep that the NSSF represents the gun-MAKERS. The NRA is their enemy and they lump anything with the word “gun” in that camp. “Truth? We don’t need no stinkin’ Truth!”
Telling each other on this blog to vote is preaching to the converted. We all will. In the next few days it might be time to get off the computer and talk to the others out side.
“Do Lower Sales Mean Gun-Rights Losses?” Uh, no! It merely means the arrogant politicians that will be actively filing their resumes come Nov 5, 2014, instead of increasing our taxes, will allow prices to normalize by removing the threat of any more idiot gun laws. BLOCK EVERY MEASURE COMING OUT OF THE SENATE, CONSERVATIVES, UNTIL FEBRUARY! Then the stampede will begin once our taxes are lowered and we can AGAIN take full advantage of our 2nd Amendment rights!
I hope that I am only a ripple in what will become a wave next Tuesday. I voted by mail last week and for the first time in 52 years I voted against something. Like most kids I was influenced by my dad’s liberal leanings and I never felt that empathizing with your brother’s condition was a bad thing but this federal administration has become an embarrassing nightmare and it trickles down to every state and municipality. I hope we give every one of those gun grabbing assholes their walking papers. If we don’t I fear that we’re in for real trouble.
Hank–You are more than a ripple. Perhaps only 10% of all shooters read the blogs. Of those ONLY 10% might post. Look at our opinions and extrapolate (my $5 word for the day) that out to the whole shooting family. I read other stuff and follow one other shooting blog (North American Arms) and ALL are pissed. Those of us on this blog are very mellow compared to the others. No guaranty but we have a chance.
Blah, blah, blah……….. Simple, If you own a gun and treasure that right get your butt out and vote.
If Conservative would have turned out in 2012 in stead of sitting home and bitching about their candidate we wouldn’t have Obama in the White House now. FACT…
The article content did not match the attention-grabbing headline nor the first paragraph. I was looking for citations on sources that supported the statement that somehow lower gun sales correlates to a lower voter turn-out, but saw none. What gives?
Despite the headline, the article did a fine job of explaining why 2013 was a record breaking year for gun sales, as well as it explained that 2013 should not be allowed to skew a decades long up-trend in gun sales simply because 2014 got back on track with the overall trend. I get that, but again, where exactly is the content alluding to the, “media outlets and politicians are trying to make the case that fewer gun sales in 2014 means that gun-rights voters won’t turn out on Nov. 4”?
I wanted sources because I truly wanted to know which “media outlets and politicians” are idiotic enough to actually make such a harebrained correlation. My mind is reeling with attempts to try and comprehend how anyone connects statistics on any type of commercial product sales of which would culminate in a lower voter turnout towards any class of people.
It’s just not clicking for me. Anyone? A little help here to make this connection? Anyone got any ideas other than severe genetic inbreeding or mental retardation that got through under an Affirmative Action program?
Remember the old saw that goes something like this, “Law enforcement can be on scene in minutes…when seconds count”. With ISIS’s so called “lone wolves” targeting the US we need our citizens capable of armed defense when those seconds count.
That simply doesn’t allow for gun grabbing policies like those that became so popular after the actions of one wacko in Newtown.
Colorado recalled two politicians after they substituted their individual opinions for those of their constituents’. Another saw the handwriting on the wall and resigned.
Treat self-defense of your family like you would seat belts and air bags in your car. Get a firearm, ammo and get some basic training on their use from some guy like me–your retired neighborhood cop or even pay a NRA instructor. Become a fixture at the local range. You will find it a better investment with instant returns than the one you had scheduled with that hedge fund manager. Thor
Aah… The leftist media. How silly they are!
If you were watching a baseball game and your home team scored eight runs in the first inning and only five runs in the second inning you wouldn’t say “Oh my God! They’re in danger of losing the game now…”
You also certainly would not suggest that that the manager be fired or that the franchise was likely to fold since there run production was down 37.5% inning over inning.
After all, only somebody with an agenda or someone who was completely ignorant of the game altogether would be that stupid.
Not me…
I’m buying my stash as quickly as I can
Sales have slowed because we can only afford so much.The market is saturated only from a lack of cash to buy guns with.During the panic we all spent money that should have gone to other important bills because we feared that the government would stop gun sales. Now it is ammo and other supplies for survival.
Pro-gun voters will turn out in HUGE numbers on Tuesday. The threats on gun-rights have not let up in the least. As for slower firearm and ammo sales, we’re just waiting to see how much lower they’ll go. Buy low and sell high.