After 18 Record Months, Can Gun Demand Possibly Still Shoot Higher?
And according to some, Trump's electoral victory ought to serve as something of a pressure relief valve for gun buyers who were fearful that President Obama -- and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, should she have prevailed -- would enact strict laws on access to firearms. With Trump purportedly expected to offer more gun owner-friendly prescriptions to reduce gun violence in the country, the need to go out and buy a gun now -- today! -- is not as imperative.
A hidden flaw
Yet that sort of logic ignores what gun buyers were actually buying. When you look at the most popular guns that Smith & Wesson, Sturm, Ruger (NYSE:RGR), Glock, Sig Sauer, Beretta, and others were selling, they weren't just the ones you'd expect to be most targeted by tough gun-control measures, but also included those designed for concealed carry and personal defense.
Ruger's second-quarter sales, for example, were indeed driven by demand for its Precision Rifle and the AR-556, but also its concealed-carry option, the LC9s. President and COO John Killoy told analysts during the earnings conference call with analysts that those three weapons helped push new product sales to $103 million, or 30% of all firearms sales for the first six months of the year, but the percentage was destined to fall next quarter, as the AR and the LC9s dropped out of the "new product" category. That means they have an outsize impact on Ruger's results, and there's no reason to suspect the CCW weapon, in particular, won't continue to influence sales.
And according to some, Trump's electoral victory ought to serve as something of a pressure relief valve for gun buyers who were fearful that President Obama -- and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, should she have prevailed -- would enact strict laws on access to firearms. With Trump purportedly expected to offer more gun owner-friendly prescriptions to reduce gun violence in the country, the need to go out and buy a gun now -- today! -- is not as imperative.
A hidden flaw
Yet that sort of logic ignores what gun buyers were actually buying. When you look at the most popular guns that Smith & Wesson, Sturm, Ruger (NYSE:RGR), Glock, Sig Sauer, Beretta, and others were selling, they weren't just the ones you'd expect to be most targeted by tough gun-control measures, but also included those designed for concealed carry and personal defense.
Ruger's second-quarter sales, for example, were indeed driven by demand for its Precision Rifle and the AR-556, but also its concealed-carry option, the LC9s. President and COO John Killoy told analysts during the earnings conference call with analysts that those three weapons helped push new product sales to $103 million, or 30% of all firearms sales for the first six months of the year, but the percentage was destined to fall next quarter, as the AR and the LC9s dropped out of the "new product" category. That means they have an outsize impact on Ruger's results, and there's no reason to suspect the CCW weapon, in particular, won't continue to influence sales.
