What You Don’t Know About Covid 19 and The Firearm Industry

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Firearm Industry

Unless you have been living in a cave or your
secret underground bunker for the last couple of months, you know that the COVID-19 virus has drastically changed everyone’s lives now and
for the foreseeable future. In some industries, such as tourism and air travel, it
has been crippling. However, other sectors, such as food, medical, home
products, and firearms, have seen undocumented growth in sales and demand.

The firearm industry is no stranger to giant
swings in product demand, mainly due to politics and talks of gun control. Yet, even with big runs on guns and ammo in the past,
many gun shop owners and firearm manufacturers say that they have never seen anything like this. Besides the giant climb in demand, this is the first time there has been such a massive surge in business happening this quickly.

Firearms Receive Essential Services Designation

When the Corona Virus pandemic first hit, many businesses were forced to shut down to prevent the spread
of the illness. Luckily, for gun shop owners and firearm enthusiasts, firearms
businesses were deemed “essential” by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, even though thousands of other seemingly essential companies were
considered “nonessential.”

Several of the other essential businesses
included services such as grocery stores, hospitals, and pharmacies. Firearms
suppliers and everyone else crossed their fingers and hoped they would
slip into the chosen few to stay accessible during the pandemic. They did, and
did they ever! While this decision undoubtedly created contempt and
received criticism from the anti-gun crowd, the right to purchase items
necessary for security and safety prevailed.

Demand for Firearms Increases

This created an enormous overnight demand for
guns, accessories, and ammo. The surge in demand came as a massive breath of fresh
air for most gun and ammo companies, as the last few years have been heavily suppressed
on the political front by both politicians and investors.

While most companies have seen the last 3 to 5
years’ gains instantly vanish in the value of their stocks, some firearm-related companies such as Aero Precision, Anderson Manufacturing, and Odin Works have finally seen an increase in the value of their stock, 

And it comes as some
relief due to their recent surge in sales and demand. Many financial analysts
attribute not only the steady hold but increases in gun stock prices to nervous
Americans buying and even potentially stockpiling guns and ammo during this
national and world health emergency. Which to some seems understandable with so much
uncertainty about what tomorrow holds.

This giant surge has also been aided by, as
many different analysts have agreed, the gun industry is
primarily a domestic operation, with significant manufacturing and
distribution still in the United States. For example, the renowned AR 15, one of the most popular semi-automatic rifles
in America, has almost every single model and variant made entirely right here
in the United States, and very few parts or accessories are imported.

This country’s firearms, parts, and accessories industry gets most of its raw materials from domestic sources. This
robust infrastructure, scarce in an era of global supply
chains, has isolated the gun industry during this time of cutbacks.

Increase in Demand

But why is there such an increased demand for
firearms and ammo during strange times? Why would anybody be
worried about buying a gun right now during a global health pandemic? There
are many reasons that both firearm enthusiasts and brand-new gun owners alike
are deciding to purchase first or additional guns and ammo.

The first is fear. There is plenty of fear in
the typical American today. Fear for one’s safety and the
safety of one’s family and loved ones. Personal liberties, especially as experts
start advocating restricting freedoms due to growing concerns about the spread of
the virus. Not to mention the idea being proposed and supported by many
politicians of an early release of potentially dangerous felons from prisons. Some believe that if something like civil unrest becomes a reality, they
could feel safer or possibly protect themselves with a firearm.

Politics as Usual

Politics in the United States often influence our domestic gun sales, usually when a political candidate is expected to win
an election, gun sales spike or plummet. An example of this can be seen when
former president Obama was perceived to be against gun rights; gun sales
spiked. When Hillary Clinton was considered the front runner in the
election, sales ran high, but as soon as Trump was elected and was thought to support
gun rights, gun sales tanked, as it was not seen as an essential purchase
because he was supposed to be a protector of gun rights.

Other Reasons for Gun Purchases

When mass shootings occur, there is also
usually a wave of concerns among gun advocates as they worry about a crackdown on
firearms and their laws, which also causes gun and ammo sales to go up.
Whatever the case, the firearms industry occasionally is no stranger to giant swings in demand, depending on real-world events that could affect
people’s ability to buy or own guns.

While many types of businesses have
seen significant demand increases, products in the self-defense and home
protection space have, by a fair margin, seen the most growth. The gun store shelves have been empty nationwide regardless of the type, whether handguns, semi-auto rifles, home defense shotguns, or ammunition boxes.

Plenty of ammunition manufacturers
and distributors have reported record sales, many making changes and working
overtime to keep up. A few of them include:

●Federal Ammunition has reported an
unprecedented demand and is focused on self-defense calibers with crews working
24/7.

●Sig Sauer Ammunition also reports
an unprecedented demand, is focused on self-defense calibers, and works 24/7.

●Sports South Distribution has the
most advanced shipping processes in the entire industry and usually does
same-day shipping. Orders are now taking up to 10 days due to the crazy demand
right now.

●Ammo.com said that 40 caliber
Smith & Wesson handgun bullet sales had risen 645% recently, making them
the most popular item sold on its website since the Corona Virus started making
national headlines earlier this year.

Firearm dealers, wholesalers, distributors,
and manufacturers all over the country are reporting similar circumstances and
unprecedented demand. It has not, however, been all smooth sailing for the
firearm industry.

Many shooting ranges were forced to close, and
events such as competitive shooting gatherings across the country have been
canceled or rescheduled. Because international air travel is completely shut down for some down or extremely difficult times, even the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have been
postponed until 2021, affecting many more competitive shooters. Even the NRA
annual meeting in Nashville has been canceled.

In addition to events and gatherings, the
firearms training segment has been shut down for some time in locations
due to shelter-in-place orders or where groups of more than a few people
are banned. While remaining open, others have been forced to implement social
distancing practices and have taken other steps to comply with state rules and help mitigate the risk of virus transmission.

Even retailers enjoying record sales must now deal with the challenges of depleted inventory, long lines of
customers, and enforcing social distancing mandates. There is also the
challenge due to employee illness from the usual flu season, ongoing health
concerns about exposure at work, more fatigue due to long hours and irregular
shifts, and the overall stress about everything right now.

Many companies have reported the same
problems, such as fewer employees showing up for work due to illnesses or
precautions. Many employees have mixed feelings about the situation, with some happy with the opportunities to work with plenty of overtime to make
even more money. At the same time, others are scared or cautious of coming
to work out of fear of exposure. Many companies are doing the best they can to
juggle employee staffing with the increased demand from customers.

Firearm-related companies are still
focused on implementing preventive health and safety measures while working
overtime at total production to ship guns, ammo, and supplies to retailers as soon as possible. Even now, demand continues to outrun supply.

Many companies have taken to social media to
reassure their customers, telling them they are doing everything possible
to deal with the situation in the best possible way. But even with the
reassurances, many customers have yet to determine when they will see many of the products they desire to catch up with the demand.

In addition to ammunition and gun sales to existing owners, there
has been a nationwide spike in first-time gun buyers who seem to be motivated by ignorance and hysterical virus-related fears. According to FBI reports, the first week of March saw one
of the highest firearm background checks on record. This was even
before the full impact of the virus on the United States, and numbers have only
been climbing since then. For example, the state of Florida reported a 400
percent spike in gun sale background checks when compared to the same time
frame as last year. In Wisconsin, background checks were more
than five times the daily average than what they are used to.

New Buyers in the Market

Having so many new-time gun buyers and owners
is a huge win for the firearms industry. We have never seen so many new
shooters come into the world of guns in such a large number in such a short
amount of time, and there are sure to be plenty of them that will be here to
stay.

Anyone who can be welcomed into the world of firearms is welcome, as many who were previously against guns and supported more gun laws had their eyes opened to things they probably did not know much about.

Even as many Americans were struggling with
the challenges that COVID-19 brought with it, many of them went out. They bought firearms, but it did not stop anti-gun movements and media outlets from
trying their hardest to discourage it. Of course, United States senators and
representatives against firearms also attempted to use the pandemic to push their agendas. But try as they might, we have seen record
numbers of gun sales, and Americans are buying guns left and right.

But even with the increased demand and
unprecedented challenges, many companies in the firearm industry have taken the
challenges head-on, and many have even stepped up to help the fight against the
virus and lack of supplies. For example, after one of Remington’s manufacturing
plants was forced to shut down, the company offered the facility as a place to
produce respirators and other medical supplies.

Other companies have done the same, turning
potential problems into opportunities to help their communities. Otis
Technology is a company that produces gun cleaning and maintenance products. Still, after being forced to lay off a significant portion of its employees due to the
new orders and the virus, it teamed up with another company to start to produce
hand sanitizer.

Versacarry, a holster company, put its engineers to work on figuring out how to quickly produce face masks and
other protective equipment instead of their usual firearm projects. Even during
this crazy demand and uncertain future, quality companies in this
industry have stepped up and assisted because they were willing to
help get the country moving again.

A Look at the Future

So why exactly is all of this happening? Why
has the firearms industry been so significantly impacted during the pandemic and health issues? In most people’s honest opinion, it is motivated by fear and uncertainty.

There are fears among the general population
that crime will increase, especially as many felons are being
released from prisons across the country, and some think the police departments are running thin on employees and support.

Is there anything good that has come out of
this situation? There are plenty of good things that this
pandemic has brought to light. There are a lot of potential positive impacts
from COVID-19, such as people who have never owned a gun before now
buying guns, and there is sure to be a portion of them that end up with a significant interest in firearms in general.

Along with people like this, others that might
be living in states with very restrictive gun laws have quickly found out that
you cannot just order a gun from the internet or go to a gun store and buy one
without a background check. Many of these people are sure to view gun control
laws very differently now, moving forward.

Plenty of uncertainty comes from
not knowing what is going on in the future, whether a day from now or a
month from now. Everyone in the country is stressed and uncertain
about the future after these strange and unprecedented times.

No one can predict when all of this will end or even how it will all end. There is no telling what kind of lasting effects
this will have on our health and financial well-being, although it is safe to
say with a strong sense of confidence that our
lives and the firearms industry have been changed forever.