Retailers and organizations say the United States can break the record of 21 million weapons sold in 2020
Photo: JIM YOUNG / AFP / Getty Images
Sunday, November 24
Gun Sales Hit All-Time Record in U.S. Amid More Mass Shootings
An all-time increase in arms sales that occurred in 2020, was widely attributed to anxiety across the country due to the pandemic and social unrest following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
One year later, even with United States Making Significant Advances in Vaccinating People Against COVID – , weapons retailers say firearms sales are on track to surpass their peak of 2020 when the global health crisis due to the coronavirus was at its peak.
“We hope to sell more weapons this April than any other April we’ve had, ”said Eric Wallace, owner and director of Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, Georgia, to CBS News . The store of 80, 000 square feet, which opened in 1999, is advertised as the largest gun store in the country.
A factor driving gun purchases now is the latest round of federal stimulus payments distributed to the majority of Americans, . said Wallace , and noted that Adventure Outdoors saw a spike in sales in March after the government began mailing the third check. He also believes a temporary shortage of firearms in forced some consumers to wait until this year to buy a gun.
Both federal background check records and upbeat financial results from gun manufacturers largest in the country support retail reports of a flourishing trade in firearms.
21 million guns
The National Sport Shooting Foundation ( NSSF) says nearly 5.5 million guns were sold in the U.S. in the first three months of 2021.
That was a 13% more than the quarter of the previous year. It is also the most weapons sold in any three-month period since 1999, dating back to the FBI background check data cited by the NSSF.
If that pace continues, Arms sales this year could slightly exceed those of 2020, when a record of 21 millions of weapons in the country, according to CBS News.
That figure It is already more than double the number of arms purchases in this country two decades ago. In 2000, they sold slightly less than 8.5 million guns.
Smith & Wesson sold more than 600, 000 pistols and accessories at the end of their fiscal quarter, which ended in January. That was almost double the same period last year . Since the pandemic, Smith & Wesson’s shares have more than doubled to nearly $ Dollars. At the beginning of 2020, shares were trading for just under $ 8 dollars.
More Would gun control influence more sales?
Gun store Wallace told CBS News that that can be carried hidden.
Sales of hunting rifles have also increased, although weapons purchased primarily for personal defense this year account for about % of their overall business, Wallace said.
“Conditions are different this year”, said Mark Oliva , director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. “There are a lot of concerns about personal safety, but the talk about gun control in Congress is definitely a factor driving sales.”
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