On the day after Thanksgiving, millions of Americans woke up early to hit the stores and score big discounts on some of the year’s hottest items.
Black Friday sales might typically be associated with huge TVs and cutting-edge gadgetry, but this year gun shops saw an unexpected surge in sales as well.
In a single day, the FBI processed 185,713 background checks on firearm purchases. This is the most background checks made in a single days since the National Instant Criminal Background Check System was launched nearly 20 years ago. It’s also about 400 more than were processed on Black Friday of 2015.
The high sales figures came as something of a surprise to many gun retailers.
Gun sales soared during the presidential election, but slowed significantly following the win of firearm-friendly Donald Trump. In fact, Smith & Wesson shares fell a full 15 percent in just two weeks after the election. Ruger shares were down 17 percent over the same time period. Likewise, many gun shop owners assumed that demand would remain relatively low during the 2016 holiday season.
Gun shops might have had a rough couple of weeks in November, but Black Friday sales exceeded even the most optimistic expectations from industry analysts.
Steep discounts coupled with deep inventories leftover from before the election gave consumers some great opportunities to get high-quality firearms at unusually low prices.
Did you pick up a new gun on Black Friday this year? Share your experiences with us in the comments below!
