According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation\u2014a trade association for the country\u2019s gun and ammunition manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retailers as well as its shooting ranges\u2014the American firearms industry employed more than 98,000 people last year and generated an overall economic impact of $31.8 billion. The industry\u2019s employment rate is up 31 percent since 2008. Firearms, says NSSF senior vice president Larry Keane, have been \u201ca shining light in an otherwise dark and bleak economic picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boom in the firearms industry also shows up in manufacturing statistics maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. From 2007 to 2011, the number of firearms manufactured in the United States grew by 63 percent, led by pistols, which posted a 104 percent jump.<\/p>\n
That freshly minted arsenal translates into profits for gunmakers. Only a handful of firearms companies are publicly owned, but those that are have had good news for investors. Winchester, which makes ammunition, reported a backlog in January worth $137 million\u2014and while 2011 wasn\u2019t as lucrative as 2009 or \u201810, the company said it was still \u201cthe third most profitable year in at least the last two decades.\u201d Remington sold more than 1 million guns and 2 billion rounds of ammunition in 2011. Sturm, Ruger was so overwhelmed by new business earlier this year\u2014its gross profit jumped by 66 percent between January and June\u2014that it imposed a brief hiatus on new orders.<\/p>\n
Many factors\u2014fear of crime during the economic downturn, better promotion of hunting by state wildlife agencies, more women taking up shooting, veterans returning home with a deeper attachment to guns\u2014have likely fueled the boom in gun sales. But Obama\u2019s influence is given singular credit. As Remington\u2019s then-CEO, Ted Torbeck, put it in a May 2009 conference call with investors, \u201cdemand\u2026has risen amidst concerns that the new administration will further restrict the use or purchase of firearms and ammunition and levy additional taxes on these products.\u201d<\/p>\n