Paradoxically, what’s bad in Washington is good for the gun business. When we see an increased threat to our Second Amendment rights, we tend to panic-buy. It happened in 1994 and it’s happened again in 2008. That fateful day I refer to as Black Tuesday has stimulated the gun business like nothing since Bill Clinton was sarcastically awarded the industry’s “salesman of the year” honor for stimulating the gun business with his doomed “assault rifle” ban.

We’ve been seeing the same thing since Black Tuesday with gun shop cash registers ringing like church bells.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. reports its firearm sales during the first quarter of 2009 grew nearly 56 percent over the same period in 2008. “The level of demand for our products during the first quarter of 2009 has been unusually high, with more than 500,000 units ordered,” said Mike Fifer, Ruger’s chief executive officer.

Smith & Wesson saw its third fiscal quarter firearm sales (which translates to the first calendar quarter of 2009) were $78.5 million, a 28 percent jump from the same period a year ago. “Sales of handguns and tactical rifles into our consumer channel for the third quarter grew 62 percent over the prior year,” said Mike Golden, president and CEO.

Remington’s overall annual net sales grew in 2008 by $102 million, according to Ted Torbeck, chief executive officer of Remington Arms. “Improvements occurred in our firearms segment, which was up 34.7 percent,” Torbeck said.

Beretta U.S.A. Corp. reports an “outstanding first quarter,” citing a 66 percent upsurge from the same period a year ago.

The FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background system (NICS) conducted more than 9.1 million checks during the November 2008 through May 2009 period, a nearly 30 percent increase over the same months of 2007 and 2008. The number of background checks does not necessarily mirror the actual number firearms sold, but it’s still the most reliable indicator of gun-buying activity

Source: Shootingindustry.com