Elections Have Consequences: Part Two

Following up on our Elections Have Consequences part one about potential negative outcomes of the election, now is a good time to remind everyone of the not-so-distant past. From 2020-2023, the firearms industry enjoyed its biggest bull market since WWII. Panic buying that started with the Covid lockdowns (not long after SHOT Show in 2020) was further fueled by government stimulus checks, and then redoubled when the waves of civil unrest began in the late spring and persisted throughout the summer and into autumn of 2020. Sales volume and profits soared as consumers stripped the industry’s shelves bare and kept them that way for 2.5 straight years.

Caption: The 2024 Presidential Elections results from the Associated Press.

This massive, sustained boom has had an unfortunate side effect: Many companies in the industry (and most consumers) have completely forgotten what life was like from 2016 to 2020, just prior to the pandemic.

The Trump Slump

The firearms industry celebrated Trump 45’s election because it was gilded with talk of the “Hearing Protection Act,” which would have removed suppressors from the NFA and established nationwide concealed carry permit reciprocity. We got neither.

What we DID get, however, wasn’t the fault of elected officials — it was our own fault as an industry and a community: The Trump Slump. With an administration in office that promised to leave gun rights alone, consumer demand for guns, ammo, and accessories dropped significantly.

Likewise, donations to organizations fighting to protect our gun rights also suffered.

“Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit membership organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom.”

“The Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the lobbying arm of the NRA. Established in 1975, ILA is committed to preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

“Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1976 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.”

We face a similar problem today, on the cusp of the Trump 47 administration: The industry’s financial health has been in bad shape since late summer 2023 and has gotten progressively worse throughout 2024.

On the business front, companies come and companies go. Many have gone out of business or been bought out/merged in the last year.

But the fight to protect our Second Amendment rights hasn’t been “won.” It is IMPERATIVE to continue supporting the organizations that lobby and litigate on behalf of our Constitutionally Guaranteed rights.