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New York (CNN Business) – Joe Biden’s anticipated White House victory could boost arms sales in what has already been a historic year for arms manufacturers.
“The election of a Democratic president who has promised to tighten gun control legislation could very well drive greater demand for firearms,” said Aegis Capital CEO Rommel Dionisio.
Biden spoke at length on the subject of gun control. The president-elect called arms manufacturers “the enemy” of the Democratic Party’s arms control efforts. His campaign website calls for a ban on the production and future sale of assault weapons such as the AR-15, a position he held since a string of high-profile mass shootings in 2019.
Dionisio says gun owners fear Democrats will pass gun control legislation, leading to a predictable surge in pre- and post-election sales.
Arms sales soared after President Barack Obama’s successful campaigns in 2008 and 2012. The previous record of 15.7 million arms sold in a calendar year was set in 2016. At the time, polls suggested that Hillary Clinton would win. the presidency, prompting many people to stock up on firearms, according to Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade group that tracks and analyzes gun sales.
A customer looks at long guns at Coliseum Gun Traders Ltd. in Uniondale, New York on September 25, 2020.
Attempts to ban firearms
Clinton made stricter gun control measures a central part of her 2016 campaign in the wake of the 2015 mass shooting at the North Charleston AME church. Obama unsuccessfully tried to get Congress to pass tougher gun control measures following the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in 2012. Former Democratic President Bill Clinton issued a historic ban on assault weapons in 1994, which expired 10 years later.
Conversely, Clinton’s turmoil on President Trump’s election day was followed by a pause in arms purchases known as the fall of Trump.
FBI background checks related to gun sales fell 8% in 2017. Reported revenues from Sturm Ruger, Vista, American Outdoor Brand, and Olin Corp’s Winchester unit fell by a total of $ 610. millions, or about 13%, that year.
Arms manufacturer Remington Arms filed for bankruptcy in 2018, when industry sales fell a further 6.1%. But the gun industry rebounded in 2019 as 13.9 million firearms were sold, according to Small Arms Analytics, an industry research firm.
Senate elections can be crucial in arms sales
Oliva says the ongoing battle by Republicans and Democrats for control of the US Senate is likely to play a pivotal role in arms sales.
Georgia’s US Senate candidates are expected to face two separate second-round elections in January, after neither won a majority on election day. If the Democrats manage to secure both seats, there will be a 50-50 split between parties in the Senate as well as a majority in the House, making gun control legislation a possibility if Vice President Kamala Harris breaks a Senate tie.
“The industry is taking the word of the Biden campaign,” Oliva said.
Biden’s campaign and transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his gun policy on Wednesday morning.
Arms sales soared this year as Biden became the lead in winning the White House. But the industry has also received a boost from the covid-19 pandemic lockdowns starting in March. Many Americans fearful of a possible crime wave and related national social unrest that erupted after the police murder of George Floyd bought guns for the first time.
Arms sales in 2020 hit an all-time high before election day, after maintaining an unprecedented pace for most of the year. Oliva says firearms sales in October increased 60% from the same month last year and more than 17 million guns were sold during the first 10 months of 2020.
Expect the trend to continue until December.
“We are approaching the holidays and hunting season, which are traditionally some of the strongest months for firearms sales,” Oliva told CNN Business.
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