Sure you don't want to buy a few more?
Sometimes all you need is
the headline:
Assault Rifles Pile Up as Gun-Law Gridlock Crimps Makers
The problem, you see, is that a whole lot of very stupid people went out and bought assault rifles because the NRA and other conspiracy groups were very, very sure that Barack Obama was going to ban them when he took office, or after he took office, or during any particular season, or when he re-took office, and so on. And more very stupid people went out and bought them after the brutal shootings of elementary school students in Newtown, Connecticut, because they too thought there was some slim chance that America would pull its head out of its ass and finally do something to maybe stop very stupid and/or crazy people from purchasing assault rifles in order to "protect themselves" from elementary school children, people who walk on the neighbor's property without permission, or car crash victims who knock on their doors seeking help.
Joke's on them, though, because America never did, and now the gun manufacturers and dealers are very sad because stupid and/or crazy people already have bought all the assault rifles they need, and the market is, at least until such a time as yet another person executes school children with one of the aforementioned assault rifles, collapsing:
Plummeting sales of assault-style weapons, also known as modern sporting rifles or “black rifles,” has led to an oversupply of unsold guns and is hitting the bottom lines of the big arms producers. Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC) shares yesterday fell the most in more than two years after the Springfield, Massachusetts-based gunmaker slashed its full-year sales and profit forecasts. [...]
“Everybody wanted to buy one before Congress passed legislation that might take away the right to have one. Of course, Congress never passed that legislation,” said Andrea James, a Minneapolis-based analyst for Dougherty & Co., who lowered her rating on Smith & Wesson yesterday to neutral. “The best thing for firearms demand is to have the constant threat of legislation without ever actually having the legislation.”
Of course it is. And the second best thing for firearms demand is to see people getting murdered with firearms, because that invariably leads to a spike in other people buying the same weapons.
All is not lost, however. Crazy people will always need more guns, and I'm sure another mass shooting will be happening in short order anyway. The country will remain positively awash in guns for a good long time.
“Gun ownership has become normalized among a greater demographic,” said James, adding that the long-term trend is still favorable for gun makers. “Are people buying as many guns this year as they were last year? No. Are people buying more guns than they were three years ago? Yes. The industry is pretty healthy.”
That's the spirit. Keep your chin up, gun makers. You're like the tobacco industry; sure, your customers may die off at an elevated rate, but so long as you can
appeal to the kids these days you'll be fine.