Gun sales are down since President Trump took office. Why? Local gun dealers say people aren’t in a hurry to buy them, because they’re not afraid Trump is going to change gun laws.
Gun sales are down since President Trump took office. Local gun dealers say people aren't in a hurry to buy them, because they're not afraid President Trump is going to change gun laws.
Gun maker Remington recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company's sales plunged 27 percent in the first nine months of the Trump presidency.
Trump is a pro-second amendment president, and some argue his support of gun rights played at least some role, in a multi-million dollar operating loss for Remington.
Mark Payne, with Elite Hand Gun Academy in Dallas, is feeling the effects of a so-called "Trump Slump" as well.
"We're probably down about 20 percent from last year," Payne said. "People aren't as worried about this President taking away their rights for guns, so they're not buying guns. There's not that urgency to buy guns."
Payne sells most of his guns online. They range in price from less than $200 for a .22 caliber revolver, to nearly $3,000 for a semi-automatic rifle.
At Eagle Gun Range in Farmers Branch, sales are down nearly 40 percent.
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"Obama, Pelosi and Clinton were our best salesman," said owner David Prince. "Every time they opened their mouths we'd have a run on guns, ammunition and AR 15s."
Texas doesn't track gun sales.
Nationwide, the FBI uses background checks as an indicator of sales, but that's not 100 percent accurate because someone can buy several guns with just one background check.
Still, the most recent FBI numbers show a decline.
In February of 2018, the FBI ran more than 2.3 million background checks. Two years earlier, before Trump was elected, that number topped 2.6 million.
"We did see gun sales go up all the way to the election and then all of a sudden they leveled off and went down," Payne added.
For Payne it's not a huge loss, but his numbers are certainly off target.
