Joe Biden Could Cause a Massive Spike in Guns Sales as Well as Gun Ammo: Firearms sales dipped in May, yet about 1.3 million units were still sold, according to new data from Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting, or SAAF. The research firm, which tracks and compiles gun sales at a national level, reported that last month saw a year-over-year decline of 12.6%. The decline impacted the handgun segment (-13.1%) slightly more than it did the long-gun segment (-12.0%).
Sales of firearms have been steadily decreasing from the record highs of 2020 and early 2021, but are still exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
“The May 2022 year-over-year drop in firearms unit sales continues to fit the pattern thus far this year: monthly drops relative to 2021 but still substantially above the pre-pandemic levels: in 2019, unit sales from January to May amounted to about 5.6 million units; in 2020, they were about 8.7 million; in 2021, about 9.2 million; and in 2022 about 7.2 million for the same months,” explained SAAF Chief Economist Jurgen Brauer.
SAAF’s firearms unit sales estimates and forecasts are based on raw data taken from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, adjusted for checks unlikely to be related to end-user firearms sales.
Gun Control Efforts Could Drive Sales
Despite the steady decline, sales could pick up as calls increase from U.S. lawmakers to institute new gun control measures. President Joe Biden just last week made an impassioned speech calling for a ban on so-called assault weapons while trying to suggest that he respected the rights of law-abiding and responsible gun owners.
“We need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” the president said in his remarks on Friday. “And if we can’t ban assault weapons, then we should raise the age to purchase them from 18 to 21. Strengthen background checks. Enact safe storage laws and red-flag laws. Repeal the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability.”
Biden called for “rational, commonsense measures,” which included reinstating “the assault weapons ban and high-capacity magazines that we passed in 1994 with bipartisan support in Congress and the support of law enforcement. Nine categories of semi-automatic weapons were included in that ban, like AK-47s and AR-15s.”
Such remarks from presidents typically only serve to drive sales. When then-President Barack Obama called for new gun control measures following the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School gun sales increased. Already AR-15 sales have spiked in recent weeks, and sales could remain strong as lawmakers debate the ways to tackle the issue of gun violence.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Virginia) is working on a bill that would place a 1,000% excise tax on any type of semi-automatic firearm. That proposed bill wouldn’t actually ban the AR-15, but could make it too expensive for most Americans to buy. While the bill hasn’t even been introduced, it could be enough to convince Americans that now – not later – is the time to buy an AR.
If the goal of these lawmakers is to keep guns out of the hands of American citizens, they typically fail spectacularly. As has been seen in Canada, the call to ban the sale of handguns has only driven demand to record levels.
Now a Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military hardware, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes.
