Locked And Loaded: Gun Sales Boom

 | Sep 09, 2012 04:24AM ET

Gun sales are booming thanks to President Obama, the concern over the Department of Homeland Security buying 1.4+ billion bullets, and the threat of crime in general. Out here on the peninsula, my neighbors are convinced the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States has been and will continue to be under siege. The immediate concern I have heard is a ban on semi-automatic weapons and restriction of ammunition sales if Obama is re-elected.

We are locked and loaded out in the heartland! Gun dealers are telling me of ammunition shortages and back ordering. This is mostly attributable to domestic federal agencies buying up all the ammunition (e.g., Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, National Weather Service, and the Transportation Security Administation). You think they want to take us for a long walk in the park and hold our hand? No matter your worldview, the gun manufacturers and retailers are where it’s happening recently!

Gun Sales Surge: An Obama Bounce? (CNBC)

The gun business is booming. The question is, why? Smith & Wesson (SWHC) stock Friday was zooming, thanks to a stellar earnings report. The firearms maker also boosted its outlook for the rest of the year. Because of the strong business, its backlog of orders more than doubled from the same quarter last year, the company is concentrating on boosting production and building inventory.

We are underserving the market at this moment, we all know that, and that’s a great opportunity going forward for us,” CEO James Debney said in a conference call with analysts.

And another gun maker, Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR), also hit a milestone of sorts in terms of meeting consumer demand. It produced its one-millionth gun of the year…well ahead of last year’s pace.

“It took us nearly all of 2011 to build one million firearms, but in 2012 we accomplished it on August 15th,” said Ruger President and CEO Mike Fifer in a statement.