What Is the State of the U.S. Gun Business?

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ^ | 4-16-2015 | Marcelo Prince and Carlos A. Tovar

[KeyLargo]

What Is the State of the U.S. Gun Business?

By Marcelo Prince and Carlos A. Tovar

After several years of strong sales to civilians worried about new regulations, big U.S. firearms makers have recently reported lower sales. The overall number of American households with guns is declining..

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[ctdonath2]

The government also knows which well-connected civilians got waivers under 922(o) to purchase new machineguns made after 1986 ... these are people who will never admit it to pollsters, strangers, or even friends/family without a serious need to know. FOIA requests to find out have been stonewalled.

[vette6387]

So how do you account for this?

http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/15/investing/smith-wesson-sales-increase-stock/index.html

This article is nonsense!

[Tijeras_Slim]

From that article:

“Smith & Wesson gun sales hit a record of $626.6 million last year. The company won’t be anywhere near that for this fiscal year, which runs through the end of April, but the pick up in orders recently may signal a turning point. Its latest projection is for full-year sales of between $546 million and $550 million — about on track with 2013 numbers. “

Seems they’ve plateaued a bit, but are still doing sound business.

And yes the original article is biased.

[Svartalfiar]

After several years of strong sales to civilians worried about new regulations, big U.S. firearms makers have recently reported lower sales. The overall number of American households with guns is declining..

Huh? The first sentence and the second sentence don't really go together.. When you have a decade of record sales, it goes against all logic to also say the number of household with that item is lower. Especially for non-expendables like firearms. They should add a question: Hypothetically, if you had a firearm in the home, would you admit on this survey that you had one? I bet you'd get 90% or so who say no!

Also, when you have record sales for decades, eventually you will reach that saturation point and sales will fall off from the previous year. The NICS graph shows that the really weak year (2014) is still almost double the number from a decade ago.

[Svartalfiar]

If they bought from any FFL, and filled out BATFE Form 4473, the gov’t already knows they have it.

No, the gov't can only find out that they bought it. They have to ask the FFL for those records (which, supposedly, are destroyed after a while), and then they also don't know that you sold it or not at a later time. Theoretically, there is no record of NICS checks.

[vette6387]

Now who would believe an article written by “ a Carlos and a Marcello?”

[Carriage Hill]

“...supposedly, ...”
“Theoretically...”

Key words, those.

[vette6387]

“Seems they’ve plateaued a bit, but are still doing sound business.”

In January, California closed a “loophole” in the law that was allowing mere citizens to purchase semi-automatic pistols that “were not certified for sale.”
It was called the Single-Shot Exemption. Now the list of pistols we can purchase is severely limited. So last year people bought an exceedingly large number because they knew that time was limited. My wife and I both took “full advantage” of the law, and from the multiple visits to our favorite dealer, we were not alone. At one time, they were backlogged 50 units on the new Glock 42 alone.

[Tijeras_Slim]

One of the reasons I like being in New Mexico, total transaction time to buy a handgun (no approved list, no magazine restrictions) is about 10 minutes and out the door.

[vette6387]

“One of the reasons I like being in New Mexico, total transaction time to buy a handgun (no approved list, no magazine restrictions) is about 10 minutes and out the door.”

Yeah that’s a really good deal, but you have one county where the cops and the local hospital are giving suspected drug possessors colonoscopies, so I guess it evens out. We have relatives ( who moved there from CT, where the guy was a professor) that now live in Santa Fe. Santa Fe is a loony tunes place. An artsy fartsy community that doubles as your state capitol. I really can’t figure out how you have the gun laws you have, because your government is as liberal as they come ( Susanna Martinez excepted).

[Tijeras_Slim]

Yeah Santa Fe is a nut house. Actually, the House is Republican for the first time since dirt was invented.

The colonoscopy guy was pretty bad, but it’s a very rural place and cops can get out of hand (just like anywhere).

[WayneS]

... and then they also don't know that you sold it or not at a later time...

...or whether you lost it in a tragic boating accident...

[WayneS]

That’s been my experience here in Virginia, also.

[1010RD]

You should tell the doctor why. These med students are being brainwashed by a virulently liberal AMA. Abortion and euthanasia are good, guns are bad.

[Pollster1]

You should tell the doctor why. These med students are being brainwashed by a virulently liberal AMA. Abortion and euthanasia are good, guns are bad.

I will not be doing that. Those who allow themselves to be brainwashed deserve to lose patients. Those who are true believers are not entitled to know that I am not a true believer. Someone else can take that risk, but I have a family to protect.

[yuleeyahoo]

I have never told any government official or surveyor that firearms are present in my home.

[gundog]

I can believe it. 31% reporting. Can't stop folks from lying.