In Arkansas, gun-sale splurge not seen

2 weapon dealers not expecting run

While mass shootings like the one in Las Vegas have typically resulted in increased gun sales nationally, some Arkansas firearms dealers say they don't anticipate a run on rifles or pistols until there's serious talk of legislation to restrict ownership of certain firearms or accessories.

In Las Vegas on Sunday, a gunman on the 32nd floor of a casino-hotel poured down fire on a crowd of more than 22,000 attending an outdoor country music festival, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 515. It was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, according to reports.

The suspected gunman, 64-year-old Stephen Craig Paddock, had at least 16 guns with him, including rifles. Police said Paddock died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. During the attack, which lasted more than 10 minutes, some police on the scene said they believed some of the gunfire was from a fully automatic weapon, according to reports.

In recent years mass shootings, such as the 2012 killing of 20 first-graders and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut, have resulted in gun-sale spikes as talk of legislation to limit access to certain types of firearms and ammunition magazines gained traction.

Jonathan Guenther, manager of Ozark Armory in Springdale, said Monday that he wasn't seeing any increased demand for rifles and didn't anticipate the surge in demand that sometimes follows mass shootings. After Sandy Hook he said saw an increase in demand, adding that panic buying also tends to happen during elections, most recently when presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was looking strong in the polls. Recently, he said, sales have been slower than normal.

"I don't see it happening this time around," Guenther said of a possible run on semi-automatic rifles.

Guenther said he does expect to see demand increase for an item called a "bump fire stock" which are sold under various brand names, including the Slide Fire stock. These legal devices, he explained, use the recoil of a semi-automatic rifle to fire multiple shots in rapid succession without altering the firearm's trigger. Guenther said he watched and listened to footage of the Las Vegas attack, and he believes at least some of the weapons used were fitted with a stock that allowed them to bump fire. Guenther said his suppliers told him that buyers have scooped up or locked down all available supply of the devices.

"They're all sold out," he said.

While fully automatic weapons, commonly called machine guns, are not totally banned in the U.S., the National Firearms Act imposes strict rules on ownership, sale and manufacture.

President Donald Trump on Monday extended his condolences to the victims of the massacre and their families. He characterized the attack as an "act of pure evil" but made no mention of guns or gun control. Trump gained strong support during his election from the National Rifle Association and characterized himself as a protector of Second Amendment freedoms. Democrats, including Clinton and Joe Biden, called for stronger gun control legislation after the attack.

According to a report released in June by the research firm IBIS World, consumer anxiety over further gun-control legislation is a major sales driver for the civilian gun market, but the report anticipates a slowdown in sales under normal market conditions. It forecasts an industrywide revenue increase at an annualized rate of 3.5 percent over the next five years to $15.8 billion.

Publicly traded U.S. gun-makers, including American Outdoor Brands Corp. -- the former Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. -- and Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc., saw their stock jump Monday on news of the attack. American Outdoor closed at $15.76 in trading Monday, up 49 cents or 3.2 percent, while Ruger shares closed at $53.45, up $1.75 or nearly 3.4 percent.

According to data collected by the FBI, firearm-sale background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System reached 27.53 million in 2016, a new record and an 18 percent gain when compared with 23.14 million in 2015. For 2017, background checks stood at 16.24 million through August, compared to 17.85 million for the same period a year ago. While those figures don't represent a 1-to-1 correlation to the number of guns sold, they are generally used as indicators of firearms demand.

Nathan House, owner of Arkansas Armory in Sherwood, said he might sell an extra gun or two to customers who are fearful they won't be available in the future, but overall he didn't expect to see greatly increased demand as a result of the Las Vegas shooting. He said Arkansas' conservative Legislature was unlikely to support gun-control legislation. He said states like Oregon, Colorado or California might see sales jump in reaction to the event, since legislators in those states seem to favor gun-control measures.

"Arkansas is a different place," he said.

House noted that firearms sales are cyclical, and while sales have been a little soft recently, demand for smaller handguns for the concealed-carry market have been big sellers due to increased crime in Little Rock.

He said at this point, with so few details about the attack, it's hard to say if it will spur any demand going forward.

"We'll just have to wait and see," House said.

According to a study by Wallethub, a research company based in Washington, D.C., Arkansas ranks eighth in dependence on the gun industry. The survey ranked all 50 states on 13 key metrics that examined the gun industry, gun prevalence and gun politics.

Arkansas is the home of custom gun-makers including Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Custom, both based in Berryville. Walther Arms has its U.S. headquarters in Fort Smith, and North Carolina-based Remington Arms has a large ammunition plant in Lonoke. Last year, gun- and ammunition-maker New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer centralized its ammunition production at a new plant in Jacksonville.





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Business on 10/03/2017

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