Firearm Sales Go Great Guns

Bill Adams, owner of Ozark Armory Inc. in Springdale, can’t see the economy improving anytime soon. He sees a lack of discretionary spending for customers, and aims most his fire at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

“He’s the most anti-gun president we’ve ever had,” Adams said of President Barack Obama.

The irony is replete: Since the presidential election, there appears to have been more guns than ever sold in the U.S.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, background checks for firearms climbed in the fall of 2008 and hit a record high in 2009 at more than 14 million. Only checks through August of 2010 were available for this year, but so far this it is trending slightly behind of 2009.

Since 1998, the FBI reports that more than 119 million background checks have been conducted nationally with about 700,000 denials. Arkansas has been responsible for just more than 2 million background checks in those years.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System is not a direct correlation to gun sales – no agency tracks how many sales are actually consummated – but it’s reasonable to say gun retailers have had a windfall.

Adams, and several other local gun retailers, deemed business as “good.”

Stats

According to the National Rifle Association, there are roughly 300 million privately owned firearms in the U.S. The NRA estimates this figure rises by more than 4 million each year. Additionally, the NRA estimates there are 70-80 million gun owners across the country; that 40-45 percent of U.S. households have firearms; and that 14.5 million hunting licenses are sold each year.

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission issued a Resident Sportsman’s License to more than 202,000 hunters for the fourth straight year. Better than 50,000 Resident Wildlife licenses have been sold annually since 2005.

Meanwhile, a growing number of residents are opting for the right to carry a concealed weapon. In 2009, the Arkansas State Police issued 24,497 new concealed handgun carry licenses, and renewed 7,216 – a total of 31,713. That’s a record, and more than double the number issued in 2007.

The ASP estimates that there were 82,227 active concealed carry licenses in Arkansas in 2009.

According to the state police, permission for a concealed carry license includes a nonrefundable fee of $144.25. Arkansas has been offering concealed carry since the mid-1990s.

Curtis Watkins, manager of Ozark Sportsman Supply in Tontitown, said his store averages between 25 and 35 customers at its concealed carry classes, where attendance lasts one day and costs $70. The class was even more popular in 2009, he said.

In a recession, Watkins said, “you might not have people buying top-end guns, but they’ll still buy guns for concealed carry and to protect what they have.

“People are deciding they need to be able to carry a weapon for self-defense,” he said. “Many are people we’ve never seen before but become customers from that point on.”

NRA

Aside from being one of the country’s 4 million NRA members, Mike Nevins represents the organization in Arkansas and Northern Mississippi. Nevin raises funds for the NRA Foundation and also works on behalf of Friends of NRA, which donates its proceeds to shooting programs that assist groups like 4H and the Boy Scouts.

In 2009, Friends of NRA donated about $240,000 in Arkansas, and $18 million nationwide. Nevins said 2010 has been another banner year for the relatively young organization.

Most Friends of NRA crowds “are just interested in securing and protecting our Second Amendment,” he said. “What we try to do is introduce people to the shooting sports in a good way so they appreciate firearm ownership and self-defense. They appreciate the freedom and exercise of that right.”

Across the nation, Nevins said, membership is rising. In fact, more Arkansans are members of the NRA (35,000 and counting) than call Bella Vista home.

But unlike other parts of the country he doesn’t think more restrictive state laws are responsible for similar increases in Arkansas.

“Our individual firearm rights are not nearly as threatened in Arkansas as they are in more populated states,” he said. “Arkansas has a high percentage of firearm ownership and hunting. By and large, we are more comfortable with firearm ownership, and somewhat less worried because there is not an immediate threat like in other states.”

Retailers

While summer is slower, fall and winter are typically busy times of year at gun shops. As proof, nearly a dozen customers kept Ozark Sportsman employees occupied on a recent Thursday afternoon.

Watkins said business varies from day to day. He agreed that there is much competition in Northwest Arkansas, and that firearms sales – along with the accessories that go with them – is “a good business model.”

At Ozark Sportsman, several hundred guns are for sell at a wide range of prices, from single action revolvers listed at $169 to shotguns going for $2,500 apiece. The store’s most expensive firearm is an engraved, special edition Browning Privilege over & under shotgun. It retails for $4,000.

Despite selling a store-record 7,000 firearms in 2009, Adams, of Springdale’s Ozark Armory, contends that these days business is good, but has a tougher time imagining a repeat of last year’s historic highs.

According to Adams, there is little mark-up in the gun business.

“The profit on guns themselves is low,” he said. “That’s just a fact in the gun industry. Most people sell guns because they like guns. They’re not doing it to get rich. They make their money on accessories. In our industry, that’s where the money’s to be made.”

At Springdale’s Sturm’s Indoor Gun Range Inc., owner Steve Sturm agrees.

“Accessories have always been the most popular thing,” he said. “There’s very little profit in firearms.”

Business isn’t quite so strong these days, though Sturm said it remains steady.

“I have a lot of people shooting, but not as many buying,” he said.

Sturm thinks gun sales will remain steady for the next 6 to 12 months. Even so, he believes the fall elections could change that — particularly if the Democrats in office lose, which could itself produce somewhat less demand. 

Firearm sales spiked shortly after the last round of national elections. In fact, the NICS reports that November 2008 remains No. 1 for the most background checks — 1.52 million processed in a single month.

“Since Obama was elected he’s helped the gun business fairly well compared to other businesses,” Sturm said. “Democrats have a reputation for passing gun control, and when he was elected most everyone felt like we were going to get some gun control.”

Adams believes the president is juggling too many balls to give firearms much thought. However, if things were to calm down, he believes the situation could get dicey for gun owners.

“The best thing he can do for himself as far as guns go is keep his mouth shut,” Adams said. “We’ve got plenty of gun laws. They need to enforce the laws we’ve got.”

Adams reports that his clientele cuts across class, and includes lower income and prosperous alike. Sturm agrees.

“We don’t get a lot of people on welfare or food stamps,” he said. “People that are wanting to do something like this instead of playing golf or fishing, that’s what they’re doing. It’s entertainment.”