Gun sales cool off after Trump elected

After Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States on Tuesday, business markets and economists preached uncertainty for the future. One industry expecting stability, however, is firearms and ammunition suppliers.

Firearm businesses around Western Montana are reacting with rejoice to Trump’s election, which they translate as the catalyst for a low-key, regular-paced market after eight years of a Democratic president. Some firearm shop owners describe recent weeks and past election cycles as times of “panic” and “binge shopping,” oftentimes depleting a small-scale dealer’s inventory for weeks as people stock up on weapons and ammunition for fear of a Democratic presidential election.

“As a retailer, you got nothing to sell. You might as well go fishing,” said Paul Hahn, owner of Hahn’s Sporting Goods and Rifles in Columbia Falls.

Hahn said during the previous two election cycles in 2008 and 2012, discussions about President Barack Obama aiming to enforce strict gun control laws and enable sweeping firearm confiscations drove people to shops, where they would stock up on guns and ammo. While sales skyrocketed during these times, Hahn said being a small dealer with limited stock means these bursts in purchases left him with empty shelves for weeks between distributor routes.

“You cannot run a business on this binge spending and then nothing. At least, it doesn’t work at the retail end,” he said. “That’s what we’ve had for the past eight years. If this changes, it will be good for the industry. I’m sure it’s slowed down already because Mr. Trump isn’t calling for more gun control or anything like that. I have a feeling things are going to slow down and inventory is going to go back up.”

Through the campaign season, some retailers across the country appeared to fuel the craze and took advantage of the panic through advertising.

“Pre-Hillary sale. Don’t wait! Prices will skyrocket after Crooked Hillary gets in,” one Nevada firearm retailer wrote in its advertisement in October.

But in the post-election market, firearm manufacturers took a hit on the stock market as investors forecast less market activity. Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. stocks fell 14 percent over night after the election, from $28.54 a share to $25, and have since slid to $21.24. Ruger stocks slipped from $64.31 to $57.05 (about an 11 percent fall) and as of Friday, finished around $47.50 per share.

Before the election, Ruger sales through October were up $103.8 million over the same time last year, according to a company report, while Smith & Wesson reported sales were up 40.1 percent from last year.

One Montana firearms dealer is built to withstand the binge buying induced by elections. Selway Armory of Missoula runs most of their business online and operates an inventory warehouse just south of town.

Joe Frament, assistant manager at Selway, said Thursday that sales haven’t quite returned to non-election season numbers, but they appear to be on their way.

“It’s not calmed down, but everyone’s more relaxed,” Frament said. “There’s no more panic, but people are still buying. We just saw lots of bulk ammo purchased, and some people [buying] three ARs at a time.”

Frament said he considers Selway lucky in the firearm retailer industry because of the company’s nearby warehouse, which allows the company to restock inventory quickly while maintaining strong online sales. He said during this year’s election the store never fell short on supply.

“If Hillary had gotten elected, in a month you would see people buying more and more, and then the distributors probably would have dried up in about a month,” he said.

Selway Armory began as a strictly online retailer in 2008, right after Obama’s first election. Frament said the firearms and ammunition market boomed from 2008 until 2011, bolstering sales in Selway’s infant years and providing enough growth to open a brick-and-mortar location.

“Those years provided a good atmosphere to start up an online store so people were looking for other places to find what they needed,” Frament said.

Based on past experience, Selway beefed up its inventory of semi-automatic long guns, along with military-use firearms and hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds.

Frament said now that the election has passed, both online and brick-and-mortar sales are stable, as is inventory supply.

After years of watching consumers oscillate from idle to rabid through each election scare, Frament said he believes some of the fright is overblown, although he’s never ruled out a potential future policy to confiscate firearms.

“I think it’s a little column A and a little column B,” he said. “It’s a little irrational, but there is an honest threat. Anything can happen and could happen, but it’s that mindset that you can have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.”

Hahn is the only employee in his operation and doesn’t plan to expand the business. This year, after Nov. 8, Hahn is just looking ahead to what he hopes will be simpler times.

“I think this will be a better thing; more steady and normal,” Hahn said. “For the long-term, things will get better.”

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.