The reason for soaring gun sales isn’t what you’d think

Alot of gun enthusiasts figured that Donald Trump’s win would finally ease the run on guns and ammo. Firearms and related supplies have been flying off shelves for the last eight years, fueled in large part by people who worried President Obama would restrict their ability to buy stuff.

Avid shooters figured a president endorsed by the NRA would slow demand, and initially, that seemed to be the case. Some gun shops reported slow business and firearms manufacturers saw stock prices dip 20 percent immediately after the election.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the ballot box.

More than 2.5 million background checks were conducted for firearms sales in November, breaking the record for the 19th straight month. More than 185,000 were conducted on Black Friday alone, setting another record there.

That suggests people are snatching up guns and ammo as briskly — if not even more so — than before. But why?

NBC News reports that gun stores in some parts of the country are seeing a rush of atypical gun buyers — including people of color and LGBT folks — who say they fear what a Trump win might mean for their safety. Some black gunowners told NBC they’ve begun carrying after the rash of police-involved shootings.

That may be part of it. But minorities and women have been flocking to legal gun ownership for years — women especially so. The number of women hunters grew by 85 percent from 2001 to 2013, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, while the number of female target shooters grew 60 percent. There has to be something else. I asked Bob Templeton, president of the National Association of Arms Shows, what to make of it, and he was equally at a loss. He had predicted a decline in demand after the election, because so many people who attended shows before then were buying primarily out of fear that a Hillary Clinton administration would propose even more restrictions than Obama’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

But while attendance remains heavy at gun shows across the country, Templeton says there is little fear among attendees. He says most are upbeat, eager to see what a Trump administration will mean for their ability to exercise Second Amendment rights.

Many pro-gun groups are pushing Trump’s ATF to rescind Obama-era interpretations of existing law and Congress to remove additional restrictions, such as those governing shortbarreled rifles and silencers in the National Firearms Act. The Hearing Protection Act, retiring Arizona Rep. Matt Salmon’s bill to remove silencers from the NFA, was the most-viewed bill in Congress last week, suggesting there is some level of public interest in the idea.

Templeton also says he sees a lot of new shooters at his Crossroads of the West gun shows, which I think shows how diverse the industry — and those who support the Second Amendment — is becoming. It’s not just all white guys who fear the government or their neighbors, as gun enthusiasts are often portrayed.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation surveyed more than 6,000 gun owners to break the industry into eight consumer segments, from hunters and collectors to home protectors and those who simply want to hone their shooting skills.

The largest market segment comprises male and female professionals with above-average incomes whose primary motivation is keeping their families safe, followed by older, techsavvy men who want to protect their homes and younger, ethnically diverse women interested in personal defense.

As the report notes: “Remember, one size does not fit all and all gun owners do not have the same motivations, wants and needs.”

Perhaps that’s the best explanation for why gun sales continue to break records, election or not. The last eight years have urged a lot of people to check out whether the industry deserves all its demonization — and largely, they’ve discovered it does not.