The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) recently released a 61 page “Firearm Commerce Updates and New Analysis” report [PDF]. Figures included are up to and including 2023, the latest available.
The total number of firearms domestically manufactured in 2020—including items listed on the National Firearms Act—was 11,827,390. The next year, after the collision of the COVID pandemic and widespread violence, the figure jumped to 15,120,931. It declined to 12,938,218 in 2022 and 2023 lower, coming in at 9,970,792.
Firearms manufactured domestically in 2000, on the other hand, totaled only 3,932,734. Ten years later, it was up to 5,559,758, still far below 2023’s figure.
Slight Dip In Multiple Sales
“For the period 2016 through 2023, FFLs reported a total of 4,380,986 multiple sale transactions involving 10,151,417 firearms,” the report states. “MSRs [Multiple Sales Reports] increased each year from 2017 (462,816) to 2021 (677,040). MSRs decreased by 10% from 2021 to 2022 (606,200) and decreased another 8% from 2022 to 2023 (558,871).”
Likely due to the financial stability that often accompanies age, 75 percent of enthusiasts buying more than one gun were 35 years old or older. More than 80 percent of those purchasers were men, regardless of year.
Stabilizing Market?
BATFE’s methodology of calculating gun sales is slightly different than that employed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which produces the most commonly cited gauge of industry health in terms of monthly sales figures. While the decline in domestic production from 2021 to 2023 (above) is significant, it does not include firearms imported for sale on the commercial market.
According to the bureau’s calculations, 20,489,908 guns (including imports) were sold in 2020. By 2022, that volume was 15,755,072. The following year, it came in at 15,153,285. The decline of roughly 600,00 is significantly less than the plummets of 2 to 3 million from the two prior years, another sign a “new norm” may be on the horizon.
Overall, the report states, “Between 2017 and 2023, 76,056,716 firearms were manufactured, 41,523,802 firearms were imported into the U.S., and 4,288,414 firearms were exported. Subtracting exports, a total of 113,292,104 firearms were introduced into the U.S. marketplace for wholesale or retail distribution between 2017 and 2023. Based on the estimated minimum sales volume…a total of 91,609,719 firearms were transferred by Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) through retail sales to consumers in this same period.”
NFA Sales
“The annual number of NFA [National Firearm Act] applications received by ATF increased nearly 107% between 2016 (525,582) and 2023 (1,086,302),” the study found. “From January 1, 2024, through November 19, 2024, an additional 1,160,229 NFA applications were received by ATF.”
“NFA weapon manufacturing increased by 601% between 2000 (79,862) and the peak year of 2022 (560,170),” it states. There was a slight decline in production in 2023, but the emphasis remains on hearing health. “In 2023, the 408,893 silencers manufactured constituted 83% of the total 495,762 NFA weapons manufactured and distributed into domestic commerce that year.” By comparison, in 2000, there were 5,001 suppressors manufactured, 6 percent of the NFA items made that year.
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