Ammunition and firearms taxes were up a staggering 43 percent in the first quarter of 2009, yet another indicator of how the firearms business has surged since Nov. 4, 2008 when Barack Hussein Obama was elected president.
The Deptartment of the Treasury reports that the tax receipts were $109.8 million for the first three months of 2009. The report comes on the heels of a 31 percent increase in the last three months of 2008.
Manufacturers of firearms and ammunition pay a federal excise tax, which is earmarked for wildlife conservation. Handgun makers pay 11 percent and long-gun makers pay 10 percent. The tax is paid at the time the guns are manufactured and is based on the wholesale selling price.
Using the tax data to extrapolate the total firearms market for 2009’s first quarter, the industry produced slightly over $1 billion worthof firearms at the wholesale level. While it is difficult to project the profit margin between the wholesale price at which the tax is paid and the eventual retail price, industry insiders place the total retail volume at between $1.2 and $1.3 billion.
Ammunition accounted for nearly $38 million of the total first quarter taxes with long-guns slightly ahead at $39 million and handguns at barely over $33 million.
Meanwhile, the National Sporting Goods Association reported that “hunting and firearms” was the only category to experience double-digit growth in 2008 out of seven categories. We appear to be headed to another “up year” in 2009, according to the Association.
