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Andrew Cuomo, Jeffrey Klein, Sheldon Silver, Robert Duffy, Andrea Stewart-Cousins (courtesy polhudsn.lohudblogs.com)

“We had anticipated this category [hunting] to be below last year as did others in the space but we underestimated the decline,” Dick’s Sporting Goods COO Joe Schmidt told investors. “We all knew the significant increase in sales during the past couple of years was temporary and driven by concern for both legislative action that would broadly change our gun laws.” Broadly, maybe. The recent rise in gun sales was more of a perfect storm – post-Newtown panic along with a liberalization of concealed carry laws and a general upsurge from female and younger buyers. A surge which has now stabilized and subsided. As marketwatch.com reports . . .

background checks are down nine percent this year vs. the same time in 2013. The august publication agrees with Dick’s: it’s all about the legislation. Or lack thereof.

President Barack Obama famously said on the campaign trail that people in small towns cling to either guns or religion. Under his administration, the right to cling is untainted, his efforts for fairly mild legislative action are dead in Congress, and there’s little interest from his administration in taking executive action.

The Newtown, Conn., school shooting in 2012 shocked a nation but did not lead to a consensus on what to do about it. And by now even the most concerned of gun enthusiasts has concluded there’s nothing to fear.

Unless they live in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut or California. Oh, and Hawaii. Or any other state and keep track of gun control legislation in the aforementioned jurisdictions.

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118 COMMENTS

  1. Well, to be fair, Dick’s Sporting Goods is probably not the best sample. Given that Dick’s shot themselves in the foot with their reaction to Newtown, many of us will simply not patronize them anymore. All they sell now are hunting rifles. When I last walked in there, there were no scary black rifles to be seen. I’m sure that they are also down overall over last year, but I’d like to see Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops’ numbers over Dick’s.

    • Agreed. When you refuse to sell the most popular rifle type in the country, your sales will reflect this poor decision-making. Cabela’s may be a better example, and they appear to be expanding.

        • I stop in occasionally. They don’t have a damn thing to buy other than overpriced ammo and when that’s on sale, they never have it.

    • I think I read a report from Cabela’s noting a decrease in sales from their 10 deep at the counter peak as well.

      But Dicks are dicks.

      Never underestimate the vengeful nature of die hard gun buyers. Myself included.

    • Gander Mountain was recently reporting that they were reconfiguring some recent stores they had dedicated as gun stores to be less specialized due to the drop-off in firearm sales.

      I think your high price players like Gander Mountain and Dick’s are probably feeling the coming drop off early because they have so much competition. Academy down the street from my local Gander Mountain is still doing brisk business and cannot keep popular models in stock. I can find the same gun at Gander Mountain for $100 to $200 more.

      That said, I have refused to do business with Dick’s for awhile now. No matter how hard up I was for ammo or anything else, I have simply not gone in. I’ve always got a few spare rounds, I could always wait until something popped up at Academy or Wal-Mart.

    • Good to know that I’m not alone in boycotting the DICKS.

      I agree on Gander. Local branch has poor and overpriced section of firearms and diddly squat for ammo. No longer even bother stopping in.

      • The Gander Mountain location in my area has went into a downward spiral on product selection, especially on used firearms. The only reason I go anymore is once in a while they screw up pricing used firearms. I bought a S&W 4566 Tactical in virtually unfired condition for $299. Last year I bought a Glock 34 with three mags and a Lone Wolf barrel for $399.

    • I won’t even walk into Dick’s. And I won’t check into CheaperThanDirt’s website either, over their gouging during the run on everything related to guns. And with these businesses who refuse to allow firearms into their business, the list just keeps getting longer and longer.

    • Ditto
      They caved. I walked. I hope some middle manger in marketing at Dicks follows this site so that he can report to his boss that the problem at Dicks is due to not understanding who their customers are , what they think and how much Dicks PC policies pissed us off, HELLO!
      I’ve been savin’ my pennies and I’m ready to buy a few beauties I’ve been wanting. They don’t have ’em. No wonder guns sales are slacking at Dicks, duh.

  2. Everyone’s tapped out, there was the treat of a ban so everyone went out and maxed out their credit card fearing they would lose their chance. Now all the bills are due.

    • Plus for those of us in the now-even-more-restrictive states, there’s nothing fun to buy anymore. I had both the Tavor and SCAR 17 on my list of guns to get in the next couple of years. No dice now unless I buy a cottage in NH. Instead, I’ve gone on a bit of a historical kick, searching the auction sites for WW II Canadian weapons. Next stop, the Evil Huns.

        • I do kinda want one, just out of sheer perversity. Apparently it was actually a pretty accurate gun at a limited rate of fire. It was when one tried to fire at combat speeds that things went pear-shaped.

  3. “…fairly mild legislation”

    Um, what?

    Banning 1000s of guns was mild?

    Whatever the author of the quoted article is smoking, I want some. Seems like some potent sh!t. I’d also hate to see his definition of moderate to severe gun laws were.

  4. Man is Marketwatch biased. “Right to cling is untainted” – why not just say you murderous neanderthals can keep their evil guns to kill good people at a later date. “Fairly mild legislative action” – why not call the VA scandal a fairly mind mix up of the schedulers.

    These media folks are evil. They deliberately seek to mislead and defraud. The faster their credibility is eroded in the eyes of the low information voters, the more informed the public will be.

  5. If sales really are slumping, that’s good for the rest of us. No longer should we have to pay $700 for a $500 AR-15

    • The outrageous prices for ARs came down late last year. The 2-year backlog every manufacturer was claiming has turned into a glut. Stripped lowers are as cheap as ever.

      But I won’t consider things back to normal until I can buy CCI Mini-Mags by the case. Not by the brick, BY THE CASE!!

  6. So… When will .22LR show back up on the shelves? I’m planning a Boy Scout shooting event, and we’re still having to scrounge to find enough .22LR here in MD. Thankfully, nearby friends in PA are helping out – but it appears that the good old days of entering a hardware/department/LGS and simply walking out with what you need – while paying a reasonable price – have not yet returned.

    • I bought 2k rounds of Winchester M-22 at Dick’s a couple of weeks ago for $130. I want to thank all of you folks who are boycotting that made this event possible.-

      • You’re welcome. Anytime you want to pay about $30 too much for something, feel free to go there and do it again.

      • I used to buy 2000 rounds of that stuff for $89 in a spiffy ammo can before the Newtown craziness.

        This still smells like price gouging to me.

        • Tell me did you fail Econ 101? Only an economic illiterate would use the term “price gouging.” We all know that 22lr is in short supply therefore we can expect prices to be higher than in the past. You can whine all you want about the extra $30 while I shoot lots of 22lr.

      • If I’m not mistaken, I could swear I saw a recall notice for some lots of that stuff (m-22 ammo) you may want to check out Winchester’s web site and check to see if this is the case. Something about certain lots being double charged or something.

        • Thanks, I couldn’t find it on the site when I looked. I will check the boxes. So far nothing has blown up in my face. I bought mine in April so I am guessing it isn’t those lot numbers.

        • Thanks Darkstar for that info.

          Hmmm tdi, that came out in Jan so your box bot in April might be something the manager shelved but decided to move at a discount. Of course, that would infer that Dicks doesnt care about the customer. That 6.5 cents a round price was so low it just caught me eye.

          Have seen nothing on line for close to 6.5 cents a rd, and the one place I could find it listed is ables, out of sock at $98 a box. So congrats for finding a good price. I’ll pay more elewhere just to keep my promise to boycott Dicks. Honor is a small thing for some, but stil not worth selling for $30 savings to me.

          Still can’t walk in and get Federal in bulk at Wallys in SoCal, and Turners has been dry for months, but Lucky Gunner has some Federal American Eagle in 500 boxes at about 20 cents shipped. So maybe the drought is ending slowly and Dicks just had to move this for sales numbers at that store.

          http://www.luckygunner.com/federal-22-lr-ammo-for-sale-22lr40lrnae-500

        • Not the bad lot numbers.

          publius2: Dick’s may indeed not care about their customers but they do care lawsuits and perhaps criminal penalties for selling recalled ammo. I never hated on Dicks because Dicks is not a gun store. They are store that sell guns. A majority of their customers are not gun owners. So by taking the PR step of not selling ARs you could say they care what a majority of their customers might think. I put Cheaper than Dirt in different class because they are a gun store so acting as they did is punishable by loss of business.

        • tdiinva, Dick’s may not be a gun store, but just like Cabela’s and Academy they used to sell a lot of guns. Also people that play golf, go hiking, run and many other sports also shoot. Prior to their 2012 change in their gun sales policy, I spent way more money at Dick’s on other sporting items (than firearms and accessories). I won’t step foot in their store any longer.

          But I’m glad you found the .22’s you needed.

        • Dicks is not in the same class as Cabelas. I have never been to a Acadamy so I can’t compare. Cabela’s explicitly caters to people who shoot. Dicks doesn’t Just take a look at the floor space devoted to firearms. It is usually less than than footwear. I hold them to a different standard than I do a specialized firearms dealer..

        • tdi, thanks for that confirm on the ammo, and congrats on the good deal. I get what you say about Dicks, and didnt mean to imply you should have come to the same decision as I. But I still hold that any retail store has an obligation to its customers and suppliers to keep their promises, no matter what product.

          Not buying ammo from CTD either, for that matter. Still have enough .22lr socked away for hunting as needed, and as I was scanning online prices for the comparison above I noticed its getting to where inexpensive .223 and reload .40 is about the same price as good .22LR match, around 30 cents a round, so that makes it easier to go shoot something for practice.

          That price behavior is interesting, and I hope at some point all the prepper/hoarders will be stocked for the next 20 years,
          and the various entreprenuers who go to the loading dock at WALLY AT 4AM and sell on gunbroker,

          will find less demand, and that artificial price support for .22lr will fall, so we can all get some at a lower price in near future.

      • anyone who pays more than 5 cents a round for bulk 22 plinkers is DUMB.

        I guess the days I used to walk into walmart and buy a box of federal bulk for $12 is long gone.

        • Tell me where I can find a 500 round box of 22lr for $25 and will rush out and buy it. I can get it at that price from my gun club but only in lots of 100-200 rounds. I would rather pay $32 a box and have all I want than have zero at $20 a box.

        • I still have the receipt from the last time I walked in to GI Joe’s and bought 2100 rounds of Remington .22 for $40…. those same 525 round boxes are$40 apiece now

        • I’m actually managing–from time to time–to obtain a 500-brick for under $30. But it’s still over $25. It’s a non-chain LGS in Colorado Springs, though, so I don’t imagine it will do anyone else much good.

          It may serve as an indication that the light at the end of the tunnel is visible.

  7. Wow. I’ve never really looked at that picture before. If some sort of instrument existed that could quantifiably measure smugness, ego, self-righteousness and narcissism… that photo would break it.

  8. Guns are durable goods and usually go through periodic boom and bust cycles around a market trend. At some point people get all the guns they want and then don’t buy for years. Everytime I go to the gun store I look around, handle a few and think about buying but then I ask myself am I going to use this thing and put it back. I am satiated at least for now and still without a black rifle.

    • Same. I am still patiently waiting for The One Black Rifle To Rule Them All™.

      Having been gently schooled here by some of the Old Wise POTG on my unrealistic sweetspot for semi-auto accuracy with low weight at the right price for long distance western hunting….

      So for now the money saved is going into ammo to improve my skilz with The Rifleman’s Rifle which still shoots better than me…;)

  9. I would occasionally shop at Dick’s in the past. When they announced they were no longer carrying scary rifles I determined they didn’t need a share of my wallet.

    Same for Jax, a local outlet in my area. Haven’t crossed their threshold since.

  10. This is a sloppyily writeen and poorly sourced article in the WSJs otherwise fine MarketWatch. If I were lookong for intelligence on the gun makers stock I would be misled here, as well as some of the past reporting as in the 10 things article. Maybe Mr Goldstein, the Washington Bureau Chief is worried about getting invited to the right parties, rather than providing unbiased insight on business. I folow the WSJ precisely because I value gettig the facts. If I want silly snark I’ll read PuffHos, or NYT.

    I hope someone at The Journal is paying attention. I’m just one of hundreds of thousands of customers who I suspect also happen to own guns and gun maker stock, among others, and this bit of fluff does not impress me.

  11. I think their gun sales have slumped because every Dick’s I’ve been to had no gun selection to speak of… the usual Hunting suspects, no handguns, no MSR’s, and the people behind the gun counter were non-existent and when they were there – they were assholes. And now they wonder why their sales are low?
    No store has been named better.

    • Same experience for me. I live within 20 miles of TWO Dick’s stores and have been in each store once. They are trying to be a “one stop shop” for ALL sporting goods, from golf clubs to tennis rackets, and ginchy over priced clothing to go with any sport. There is no more importance attached to the sale of guns than there is to the sale of socks. It feels more like a Home Depot than a sporting goods store. I’m an hour away from Cabela’s, but would make the drive there before going to Dick’s. At Cabela’s, they do a MUCH better job at customer service, and their focus is on the gear and clothing of an outdoorsmen that hunts, fishes, camps, and maybe has a boat. No weight machines, no treadmills, no golf clubs, no tennis rackets, no softball gear.

  12. After Dick’s reaction to Newtown I made a promise to boycott Dick’s. Their tiny inventory and indifferent staff make it an easy promise to keep. Sort of like boycotting a restaurant with horrible food.

    • Thanks for the warning. I actually changed a bunch of my passwords a few weeks ago because of the Heartbleed scare.

      • You’re welcome. The scary thing about Heartbleed is that changing your passwords won’t matter if every site that you visit hasn’t updated their version of OpenSSL.

    • Thank you, also. Another reason TTAG is on my daily reads, to learn from smart readers on The Truth About Guns, and I don’t mind the OT on key issues that affect my family security.

  13. Lies Damn lies and Stats
    Plod along at 100 units a year for years and years, then Sandy Hook laws approach, sales go to 150 units.
    Sales are up 50% right?
    After the scare is over sales decrease to 137 units a year.
    It would appear interest in your product is on the slide because sales have gone down 9%.
    Bullsh*t.
    Your sales are still 37% above your historical trend.
    So my old Stats Prof would ask
    “What are you using as your base???????????”

    Same technique used by anti-business groups.
    Profits for Corp X are up 100%. The must be greedy.
    1% profit goes up to 2% , hardly greedy but:
    Profits increased to 2%
    Profits increased 100%
    For your purpose? Take your pick.

    • Yep; the base rate fallacy is one of the most commonly exploited misrepresentations with statistics.

      Been trying to teach my children “Math is a weapon; it can be used against you by people who are banking you not understanding what they are telling you.”

      Manipulations based on insufficient education by those that control the public education system…reason 723 to Home School.

  14. There is a new Dick’s coming near me. They are ambitious. I suspect it will FAIL and I cannot wait. After their Newtown response, that business is dead to me.
    Next up – they will hire Shannon as a spokeswoman.

    • Dicks is in the typical acquisition phase of buying up weak competitors, hoping for economies of scale. It doesnt work in retail in a lagging economy especially in the brick and mortar space when you alienate key buyers with money and a memory. My guess is we’ll see some numbers fudging, as is typical of managemeny with compromised integrity. My advice is sell or go short, if you want to do any business with Dicks.

    • You might want to reconsider. I mean, can you imagine the headlines if the word gets out?
      DIRK DIGGLER’S NOT DICKING WITH THE DICKS AT DICKS! News at 11.

  15. I used to buy shooting stuff and my three kids sports stuff at dicks . They shafted people who had ordered and paid for AR’s after newton. I stopped all shopping there.

    I am sure they thought they were going to lose just a few scary rifle sales. What they didn’t consider was how may pair of cleat, running shoes, north face jackets gun owners like myslf bought from them.

  16. “And by now even the most concerned of gun enthusiasts has concluded there’s nothing to fear.”

    Never stop fearing those who WANT to control you and your property. They will say and do everything to take your rights away while they (YKWTA) keep theirs.

    • Heh. I noticed that little bit of therapy from the author… kind of insulting, wasn’t it. Snark, of course, but funny only to those who secretly believe they are part of The Elite Who Know Whats Best For The Little People, or who are desperate to join The Kool Kids Klub. Just another Progtard…sigh.

  17. Here in MD, they used to have great prices. Bought my first gun, a Remington 870 and my second gun a 10/22 from them. After what they did to Troy I’ll never go back.

  18. Iv been in there a few times for bike odds and ends only thing Iv ever seen in there firearms department is a little break action combo gun from Rossi 22lr/20gage.
    but other than using a gift card I have left I won’t even buy any of that from them now and have ben telling folk no more any thing from them

    • I won’t even buy bike gear from them anymore, most of it is crap anyway, better choices in the local bike shop or online.

  19. I boycotted Dick’s after they shafted their customers and suppliers of MSRs in the post Newtown tragedy frensy to be seen as PC. They are entitled of course to run their business as they see fit, but I have still seen no reason to go back, other than their limited selection of over-priced gear tailored to the PTA mommy shopping segment, and of course golf. Never did see the attraction to that sport, and I suspect the slowing economy which id causing major retailers like Sears, JCPenneys, Target and others to shutter hundreds of stores in malls nationwide, is the bigger issue, not gun-nut paranoia.

    WSJ editors and management…you listening? Maybe Mr Goldstein should spend somtime with Mr. Farrago for a bit of insight. And better writing, too…

    • Have you ever seen a well-researched, well-written truthful and factual article anywhere in the MSM? I have never done so.

      • Dont include the Wall St Journal in the MSM, or as I prefer to distinguish the big ones that have gone full progtard, as The StateRunMedia™. Dunno whats up with MarketWatch, but maybe its part of their new commenting system, livefyre, and the effort to connect with all forms of social media, thats leading to a general dumbing down effect from the FakeBook trolls that also pollute the coments section. IMHO, TTAG has the lotential to be one of the more rare places in the blogosphere, where smart readers generate as much as half the value, if the community evolves with a bit of patient guidance for repect for one another, and the facts. I don’t see that happening in the FakeBook space, nor does Twitter provide a positive, just more distraction and wasted time due to the ego-stroking and general dumbing down that is FakeBook, from users who either have too much time on their hands and a need for public image grooming, or ad we see, the PR and propaganda effect combined with trollery that longtime online readers recall from the bbs days. In short, social media as its evolving today seems to be going the direction of the movie Idiocracy.

        Keep up the good work, RF and staff.

        • Ps James Taranto’s writing is worth the price of the annual WSJ subscription alone.

  20. I just want the ammo hoarding, especially 22LR to stop. Guns ae plentiful and easy to get in my area ammo not so much. And PRICEY.

  21. I hope gun sales slump, maybe prices will go back to a reasonable level.

    I saw a bone stock, basic G21 Gen 4 priced at $750 in Gander Mountain earlier this spring, that’s hwy robbery.

    I say bring on the slump, baby!

  22. I buy everything at a one man shop near my home. At times I pay a little more than at the big boys but they don’t need my business.

    • Know what you mean. Just opened, shop smaller than my living room, really fun place to go look, touch, drool, and find outstanding conversation and advice, everything is below MSRP, although I’m sure I could find it cheaper. He’s gonna be my first stop in the future, I think.

  23. Dicks asked to see ID when I was buying bullets. Not a state or federal requirement I told them. So I left the overpriced box on the counter. And they only allowed one box of anything, period.
    Good riddance

  24. DIck’s, in particular, is a bad metric to gauge gun sales, as are most of the big-box sporting goods stores. Local gun shops are thriving, as are on-line sales facilitated by local guns shops. CCW permits are still driving concealed guns, and I’d bet more and more folks now own military-inspired long guns like AR’s and AK’s, too.

  25. Vast numbers of people up here boycott Dick’s and don’t bother shopping there. Plenty of other places to go with better selections and prices and we’ve got better things to do than fund an anti 2nd amendment company trying to make a buck off of hunters and other fudds. Not only do I not give them any of my gun business but also neglect to shop there for the other outdoor activities I am involved in as well.

    My Gander Mtn. on the other hand has recently completed construction on doubling the size of it’s firearm counter and can match many Cabela’s in terms of size and selection. Prices of course are still high.

    • Gander Mountain for guns is like Best Buy for electronics.

      Just use them to feel up the guns and then buy from the internet.

  26. I haven’t been inside a Dick’s store since they told me how they really feel about gun rights. They can change the name of their stores all they want, they are still dicks.

  27. The employees hate Dicks too. I was at a Dicks in Indiana recently. Usually it was hell getting waited on. The young guy working the counter informed me he got screwed out of an AR( half price) after Dicks f@&#ed everyone. All I wanted was some cheap 00buckshot. No go. They have cheap pardner pumps but no layaway. Local gun shops seem very busy to me. Fueled by Illinois concealed carry. Dicks is a terrible indicator of anything.

  28. “The Newtown, Conn., school shooting in 2012 shocked a nation but did not lead to a consensus on what to do about it.”

    I disagree – there WAS a national consensus on what to do about it: Buy more guns and ammo. Buy LOTS of guns and all of the ammo you could get your hands on.

  29. NO the reason Dicks gun sales are down is ppl like myself who STOPPED doing business with them when they pulled firearms off the shelves following the newtown incident ……and my guess is that even tho tons of ppl didn’t really stop shopping there ( especially if they have .22lr in stock) …there are enough of us who still mean what we say and will boycott them ..same goes for cheaper than dirt…..they have been running lots of sales but i still will pay more for my principles

    • …there are enough of us who still mean what we say and will boycott them ..same goes for cheaper than dirt…..

      Yep, you can include me in that sentiment.

  30. I have put Dick`s on my permanent boycott list. Its because of them cancelling orders of Troy AR-15 rifles even though people paid for them in advance. They should change their name to Dickless Sports

  31. Dick’s isn’t the only retailer with slumping sales. I think the main reason is lack of affordable ammunition, and in some cases ammunition isn’t available at all. The guns we feed the most are the newest ones. If reasonable ammo isn’t there, why buy a gun?

    It’s one thing to spend $100 for a day of shooting at the range or plinking. It’s quite another to spend $200-$300. Pretty difficult to get a newbie interested when they look at the ammo dollars and availability problems that curently exist.

  32. The increase in gun sales was black rifles and concealed carry guns. Neither of which Dicks sell.
    Gun sales are down from a year ago, but still higher than 2 years ago

  33. “And by now even the most concerned of gun enthusiasts has concluded there’s nothing to fear.”

    Yeah, bull. Any true gun rights advocate knows that there is no retreat when it comes to tyranny, only lulls. The latest push to strip Americans of their rights may have failed, but that hasn’t deterred the leftist fanatics a bit. They’ll only redouble their efforts and devise more devious, unscrupulous, or violent ways to reach their end goal of total control.

    Those on the side of truth and justice always have enemies.

  34. The Dicks near me is managed by Dicks. That and I don’t forget their anti 2A stance when the chips were down and since then, Can’t say I have entirely boycotted it, but I avoid it whenever possible. Spend your money in pro 2A establishments that also understand customer service,

  35. As soon as Chris Christie leaves office, a Democrat will take over as Democrat and preside over the Democrat Senate and Democrat House. That’s when semiautomatic rifles will be illegal in New Jersey, and the 10 round mags come into play. It’s inevitable.

  36. I would like to point out something that a few seem to be forgetting, No I do not believe that the buying spree is over, I just believe that people are getting smart about where they buy them and getting them without sales slips and background checks.

  37. I don’t really shop at Ficks for anything. It always seems that I can never find exactly why I want/ need. This goes from apparel to firearms. Plus, the prices…..

  38. I stopped in there (Dicks) last night with my boy to get some clays for this weekend. I had bought a Whirlybird Thrower last yr when I was in a league and got a good deal through another member. I thought we would take it out to the family farm this weekend and try it out. But while I was Packing up everything needed for the weekend I discovered I was out of stock on clays.

    Dicks had a full rack fully stocked with rifles but what shocked me was the shelves fully stocked with all rifle and HANDGUN ammo. I was stunned. No .22LR However. But we just grabbed two 90 count boxes of Clays and left.

  39. There is a thee word explanation for the slump in gun sales, and sales in the rest of the economy for that matter. ” No Disposable Income”.

    That’s right folks, between pocket searing increased costs for socialized medicine, continued and worsening unemployment, and underemployment – there just isn’t as much money circulating in the economy. Less money circulating = fewer sales and less profit. Fewer sales and less profit = unemployment.

    You’d think someone with a Harvard Law degree would be sharp enough to have figured this out, but maybe that’s the point. If everyone is poorer, everyone is more equal. right?

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