According to FBI statistics, a lot less people are buying guns in the United States since Election Day. Most experts who study the data say that this is due to the election of a president that supports gun rights. We believe this is true but is also likely a simple answer. Trump’s election removed a sense of urgency that people who were worried about changes to gun rights were feeling.
The experts who analyze the data also say that black people, women in general and those who identify as LGBT are buying more guns since Election Day November 2016. We don’t think this is just the result of these groups exercising their rights to carry. Philip Smith, president of the National African American Gun Association, believes that members of his group are buying guns because they’re scared. They worry that the racism and nationalism that some of President Trump’s followers have stirred up could lead to violence.
Smith says that the National African American Gun Association has added more than 7,000 members since Election Day. These new members are starting chapters all across the country. While we support all groups of people who want to become gun owners and exercise their right to carry, we hope that they are choosing to carry out of a position of strength and not one of fear. It is our hope that President Trump condemns any racial violence and that his supports who are opposed to racial violence also speak out against it.
FBI background checks dropped from 3.3 million in December 2015 to 2.8 million in December 2016. In January 2017, there were 2 million background checks performed, compared with 2.5 million in January 2016. In January 2017, statistics show 2.04 million were conducted. Gun stocks have also fallen short–up to 32 percent on American Outdoor Brands (what used to Smith & Wesson). Hard to say how much of that drop is due to confusion about their name change.
Many gun stores owners are glad that a Republican is now in office, but they have to acknowledge that a Democrat in office is great for business! Because many gun shops stocked up on semi-automatics in 2016 in anticipation of a Hillary Clinton victory, they now have a glut of stock since people aren’t buying as many guns as they thought. That means there are likely to be some good deals to be had in the future!
