Firearm Industry Shows Sustained Growth in 2009

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced just as this issue went to press that the recent recession, the worst in 30 years, is "likely over." I’m not sure what he means by "likely"—it ain’t over if you’re out of work or if a close relative is facing foreclosure—but I do know that the firearms business is as healthy as it’s been in my lifetime (and that, I hate to admit, goes back to the administration of Harry S. Truman).

Yes, my friends, according to data recently released by NSSF, firearm sales figures are up for three years in a row and for the tenth straight month. The 30- to 40-percent monthly increases we saw last fall represented a surge due to fears over last November’s election, but the 12- to 18-percent monthly increases we’ve seen lately represent real and sustainable growth in our industry.

Backing up NSSF’s figures, data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 1,074,757 checks in August 2009, which is a 12.3-percent increase from the 956,872 reported in August 2008.

Other federal-government data comes from the most recent Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Collection Report, released in August, which showed that firearm and ammunition manufacturers paid more than $109.8 million in the first quarter of 2009, up 43-percent over the same time period reported in 2008. This dramatic increase follows a 31.3-percent increase in excise taxes from the fourth quarter of 2008.

This shows that Americans are not only buying more guns, but it suggests that they’re investing in better-quality, more expensive guns. All of this, of course, is very good news for the gunsmith. It says to me that, if you’ve been holding off on the purchase of that new mill or other expensive tool, the next year may be the time to go ahead and make the investment. Oh, and there was one more interesting figure released recently by the federal government.

Want to guess how many background checks have been conducted by NICS in the decade since the system was instituted? As of last August, 105,060,213. Is America a great country, or what? Land of the free; home of the brave. Editor Keith Lawrence Technical