Sales of guns took a temporary pause last month as the public headed into an Election Day that could determine the future of the Second Amendment.
The FBI said background checks fell, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry group that parses those reports for sales numbers, said they were down about 5%.
Still, NSSF said the market remains strong and recorded the 63rd consecutive month of sales over 1 million.
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“These figures tell elected officials where America stands on support for the Second Amendment,” NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva said.
In 2016, when it appeared that Hillary Clinton was headed to a solid victory over Donald Trump, gun sales surged at the end of the campaign.
This year, the race appears tied, though each side believes it is ahead.
As a result, said some gun sellers, many have paused purchases, especially those who are concerned that Harris will revert to her preelection positions of pushing for gun control and possibly gun confiscation.
Should she win, they anticipate a flood of customers, new and old.
“With the polls razor close, a lot of buyers are taking a wait-and-see approach. However, given the history of social unrest and rioting following election days, we expect a spike in sales no matter who wins. Fear sells firearms, and when people’s timelines and news feeds are filled with people committing violence, they naturally seek comfort by buying guns,” said Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the nation’s largest gun stores.
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“That spike will likely be significantly higher if Vice President Harris wins. Though she’s softened her tone on Second Amendment issues by claiming she’s a gun owner, should she be elected, Harris’s history shows will do everything in her power to limit gun rights,” Anderson told Secrets on Monday.
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What’s more, the federal government has been signaling for weeks that it is concerned about post-election violence, especially leading up to Inauguration Day, and that could spark big sales among those eager to defend themselves.
Those signals reached new heights over the weekend, when many stores and government buildings in Washington were boarded up and fences were placed around the White House, the vice president’s residence, and the U.S. Capitol.
