“Americans, apparently, may finally have enough guns and ammunition,” BloombergBusinessweek.com asserts, clocking Cabela’s latest financial results. Wow! “Apparently” and “may” in one entirely misleading lead sentence! Still, there is a bit more than anti-gun agitprop here. “Sales at Cabela’s stores open more than one year plummeted 10.1 percent in the recent quarter, primarily because of sluggish firearms sales and a ‘much sharper than expected’ decline in ammunition buying, says Chief Executive Tommy Millner.” One wonders if the decline in ammo sales had something to do with the fact that they don’t have much ammo to sell. Just thinking out loud. Smith & Wesson’s CEO has a better perspective on the downward (but still better than normal) sales trend . . .
At an analyst meeting early this month, Smith & Wesson (SWHC) CEO James Debney said the industry is “coming out of this surge period into what we would call a more normal environment, which is generally free of influence of some fear or uncertainty about increased legislation.”
While FBI background checks have peaked, indicating that the mad rush for new guns and permits is tapering, they’re still high relative to years past. More to the point, the post-Obama, post-Newtown surge has brought hundreds of thousands if not millions of new shooters into the game. As with their predecessors, it’s only a matter of time before these newbies return to market to add to their firearms collection.
Meanwhile, they’re shooting their guns. When they can get ammo. Yes, there is that. When there’s an ammo glut and the prices tumble, then you can talk to me about Americans who’ve “had enough” of their guns. Wait. Not then either. Because there will still be huge turnover, as all these shooters shoot.
Meanwhile, more ammo, cheaper ammo, lower gun prices? As the Cars declared, let the good times roll!