CSM: Gun sales fall despite Sept. 11

[dZ]

from the April 02, 2002 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0402/p01s02-ussc.html


Gun sales fall despite Sept. 11
By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

SAN FRANCISCO - Months after many members of a frightened nation rushed to gun shops seeking security in triggers and steel, mounting evidence suggests that the gun-buying spree is over.

For decades, handgun sales in particular have been a barometer of public fear – rising and falling in lock step with crime rates and riots. So the drop is, on one hand, a sign of how America has acclimated to its new normal. Yet it is also part of a broader, and perhaps more lasting, trend: Before Sept. 11 – and again today – fewer Americans are buying handguns.

The decline in handgun sales since the mid-1990s has been attributed to many factors, from tougher gun-control laws to an increased feeling of safety as crime dropped throughout the decade. But to some, the roots go deeper, suggesting a subtle shift in attitudes, as America becomes ever more suburban – and more likely to connect guns to shooting sprees than to weekend duck hunts.

Laura Kennedy has seen the shift at her Bay Area sporting goods store, where almost no one says they've "got to get a gun to protect themselves" anymore. Federal data show that requests for background checks – a key indicator of sales – are now below last year's levels.

"The long-term trend in the US is ... going down," says William Vizzard, a gun-control expert at the University of California in Sacramento. Sales of handguns – like computers or armchairs – are cyclical, and most experts say they will likely rebound at some point. Yet many add that the days of the 1980s and early '90s, when nearly one-third of American adults said they owned guns, might not return anytime soon.

"The culture of shooting," says Mr. Vizzard, "is slowly ebbing away."

Even with the post-Sept.-11 uptick, the news for handgun manufacturers has not been good. While tracing actual handgun sales is nearly impossible, a host of statistics reveal a dim picture:

• Although FBI background checks for handgun sales spiked after Sept. 11 – by 39 percent in October – the buying binge has ended. Despite the jump, the FBI did fewer background checks in 2001 than in 2000, and checks for the first two months of 2002 are already 10.5 percent below last year's pace. The checks don't necessarily mean that a sale occurred – nor do they record how many weapons might have been sold – but they're widely seen as a useful gauge of interest in handguns.

• California, one of the few states to keep track of gun sales, announced late last month that handgun sales in 2001 had hit their lowest level since the state began keeping data in 1972. Maryland also saw a drop in the requests for applications to purchase firearms in 2001.

• The most recent figures from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms show that handgun manufacturing dropped by more than half between 1993 and 1999. In 1998, the latest year available, fewer handguns were manufactured than in any year since 1967.

• The University of Chicago's General Social Survey shows that 24 percent of adults polled in 2001 owned at least one gun, down from 31 percent in 1996. Previously, the figure held steady near 30 percent for the survey's 16-year history.

The trends aren't industry-wide: Sales of long guns – such as shotguns and rifles – remain healthy. But historically, pistol and revolver sales have closely mirrored crime-rate fluctuations, from the 1960s until today. "The single biggest reason for having a handgun has been declining for the past eight years," says Tom Smith of the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center, which puts out the General Social Survey.

OTHER variables also affect handgun sales. America's increasing immigrant population has less of a tradition with firearms: It lacks the iconography of John Wayne and the cultural history of dads teaching their sons to shoot a .22 or hunt partridge. In addition, some say, most people who want guns already have one.

Indeed, the biggest years for handgun sales in US history came not when new buyers sought to protect themselves, but when current handgun owners rushed to buy more. As President Clinton signed the Brady Bill gun-control law, enthusiasts stockpiled certain models, worried that it was their last chance.

"Bill Clinton was a great marketing tool," quips Ms. Kennedy of Canyon Sports in Martinez, Calif. Since then, she's noticed changes. While her shop manages fine, competition has diminished, unable to scratch by, or unwilling to fill out reams of paperwork.

Many in the gun industry say the handgun market is now stabilizing. But others aren't so sure. The fact that the average age of gun owners continues to increase is, they say, more than a statistical quirk tied to aging baby boomers. Rather, it's a sign that younger generations see guns differently.

"Young people are now coming of age in a time of high school shootings," says Desmond Riley, a spokesman for Stop the Gun Violence in Washington. "They're not used to guns as something being used for sport, but as something being used to kill friends."

But that portrait of gun use is misleading, say gun-control critics. Far more children die in swimming pools each year than in accidental gun deaths. And at least two school shootings – in Pearl, Miss., and Grundy, Va., – were stopped by armed citizens.

Yet such facts are rarely mentioned. "Over time, [the bad news] cannot do anything but wear on people and reinforce negative perceptions about guns," says John Lott, author of "More Guns, Less Crime," a controversial book tying the prevalence of concealed weapons to lower crime rates.

It is this combination of factors – from negative perceptions and a dropping crime rate to an aging, diverse population – that points, some say, to something more fundamental than cycles of boom and bust. "We might actually be reaching that point," says Philip Cook, a gun expert at Duke University in Durham, N.C., "where the number of people who own guns is actually going down."

[Tamara]

...and a slow economy in the last quarter of '01 combined with Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr being the traditional dormant months for gun sales has nothing whatever to do with this "Post-9/11 Downturn".

A gun store on a Tuesday in March or April can be a lonely place, even during the salad days of '94.


But, yes, overall gun sales are a declining trend. And it has exactly doink to do with "changing cultures" or "kids coming of age that hate guns" or whatever; it's because the legislative noose is drawing tighter and tighter, making gun ownership more and more annoying and expensive.

Which is exactly their plan.

[coati]

Sales of handguns – like computers or armchairs – are cyclical, and most experts say they will likely rebound at some point.

Pretty much sums up the article, for me.

Their stats from California don't really reflect the rest of the country, IMO.

[Redlg155]

• California, one of the few states to keep track of gun sales, announced late last month that handgun sales in 2001 had hit their lowest level since the state began keeping data in 1972. Maryland also saw a drop in the requests for applications to purchase firearms in 2001.

Wow..California and Maryland. Great places to buy guns.

Perhaps this means that many gunowners in those states decided that they were fed up and moved to more gun freindly states. I hope so.

Guns purchases are up in my household. Definitely good news to me...althouth the wife doesn't think so.


Good Shooting
RED

[USAFNoDak]

You can feel the excitement in their words. What they are really saying is this: "Golly Gee willickers! Our negative publicity regarding guns is starting to take hold. Making purchasing a firearm hard to do, time consuming, and socially negative is really starting to have an effect. Oooo, whooooo. One or two more generations subjected to our brain washing and good bye second amendment and guns!"

I can see them planning the parties already.

I also like how they refer to John Lott's book as a "controversial book". Have you heard that term for any anti gun books? Hmmmm? That is part of the problem (or solution for the anti gun crowd).

[SkySlash]

I bought a Glock 26 last October, and I just picked up a Kahr P9 this morning, and I have my eye on a Mossberg 12 Guage.

Gun sales may be declining in California and Maryland, but they're not in my home.

-SS

[bokchoi]

Not to derail or anything, but oddly enough, handguns have been selling wildly up here in Canada (or Edmonton) at least... I'm having trouble finding a selection as the gunstores are always out of stock before I get there, dammit.

[MuzzleBlast]

This article was about as balanced as a mainstream media article could be expected to be. I found this part interesting:

Far more children die in swimming pools each year than in accidental gun deaths. And at least two school shootings – in Pearl, Miss., and Grundy, Va., – were stopped by armed citizens.

Haven't seen either of those facts mentioned in any other mainstream media stories.

[GSB]

Not to derail or anything, but oddly enough, handguns have been selling wildly up here in Canada

What are the legal hoops for owning a handgun in Canada? I thought it was difficult.

[DLL]

I live in PRK and I've bought two handguns this year. I'd buy more if I had the money.

[Mark D]

My gun purchases are down because I'm just now getting the debt paid off from my Clinton era firearms acquisition frenzy. To an extent, I don't think I'm alone in that regard.

[Kevinch]

You have to love that they decided to use California & Maryland handgun sales to bolster their claim that handgun sales are off. I wonder what they are in, say Florida & Pennsylvania.

They may be down - a poor economy would certainly hurt sales, as would a general feeling of comfort with the administration. ("My income is off, & we have a pro-gun President - why over extend myself? I will buy when the $$ are there.")

My dealer told me that the Clinton era was the best thing that ever occurred as far as his business was concerned - sales were through the roof.

[MeekAndMild]

IMHO the decline has more to do with the Clinton recession than anything else. Firearms are a form of wealth, so if the money is being spent buying clothes for the kids it won't go for buying guns.

• The University of Chicago's General Social Survey shows that 24 percent of adults polled in 2001 owned at least one gun, down from 31 percent in 1996. Previously, the figure held steady near 30 percent for the survey's 16-year history.

If I lived in chicago I wouldn't tell them either. "No ma'am, we don't own any guns. We used to have one but we got to thinking about what would happen if anybody knew we had it so we threw it in the river with all our books. We don't have anything here except for some Bon Jovi CDs and a couple of back issues of 'Rosie'."

[Dave R]

I also wonder if more buyers are buying used?

'Course, that would leave the total "gun population" stagnant.

[SIGarmed]

Gun sales down in California?
California has been reported as having now more gun owners than Texas. Can you guess why?
Every year it becomes increasingly harder and harder to buy a handgun because the communist legislature keeps attacking gun rights with more and more laws. We have the one pistol a month law wich is very recent and now you can no longer just go out and buy a pistol with a clean record. You need a permit,after that you wait ten days,and also the amount of pistols that can legally be sold in California are very limmited compared to most other states unless you're in Maryland. There is an approved list of handguns so this limmits the guns that a person like an enthusiast has to choose from. For instance I'd have a Colt Delta Elite if I could legally buy one. Thats just an example get it. More illegal laws are causing gun shops to close down wich is just what the leftists want when they pass more bills.
For 2003 the new laws are that you cannot buy any firearm without the new license, no more DD 214. No more one time certificate you have to renew every five years cometh 2003. We'll have newer testing and its anyones guess what will be next.
This year you not only have to buy a handgun thats on a DOJ approved list, there is a DOJ approved list for safety devices that must be bought with the gun. These are not just any locks,they are especially approved and tested with the specific firearm that you are buying. If lock x was never tested and approved on y pistol or z rifle you can't buy x lock. Therefore you cant buy y or z firearm. If there is no safety device made that has been tested by a CA DOJ approved laboratory for the firearm that you want than your out of luck. That particular firearm has been defacto banned!
The way around this is to buy a UL listed safe and the approved nomeclature is on the CA DOJ website. So everyone that wants to buy whatever is legal in California pretty much must spend $500+ on a new safe unless they allready have one.
What are these victim disarmament jerks going to be saying in 2005? They'll be jumping for joy in the streets and touting how Californians now understand that no one needs a gun and that they're right. :barf:
The truth of the matter is that gun rights have actually been restriced more every year and in my honest opinion this is the reason behind any lack of sales. Unfortunately I allready know people who've mentioned they have thought about the black market because self defense is a human right.

[MeekAndMild]

SIGarmed, Kali must really be afraid of ethnic minorities to create all those rituals to try to keep them disarmed.

[dZ]

Maryland also saw a drop in the requests for applications to purchase firearms in 2001.

primarily due to the new b allistic fingerprint law that made most guns un importable

just wait till 2003 when the whole handgun rosterlist of hundreds og certified models
gets replaced with a list of 25 guns with integrated safety locks

[twoblink]

The reason gun sales are going down in California::

#1) "Private" sales not registered are increasing..

#2) All the gun owners are moving or planning to move out of California

#3) A lot of people buy guns from another state... and keep them there (myself included).

#4) When was the last time you believe statistics??

#5) Slow Economy

#6) Tougher laws = more bankrupt gun stores

#7) Gun purchases are in cycles like previously mentioned

#8) It's not hunting season yet

#9) There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics..

#10) They forget to offset the stats with such things as gunrange memberships, which are UP... minor details like that. Fewer guns sold, more ammo bought and more people learning to shoot from well trained instructors..

And to the Liberals in Cali, F*ck U, you've taken a great state, taxed and legislated it to death, and when you are threatened, the gun owners won't be around to save your sorryass from the police state you voted in.

'nuff said.

[KP95DAO]

The only reason I didn't get another handgun for Christmas from the wife ( she buys me one every year ) is that I couldn't think of one that I wanted or needed. I think I see another Glock 32 in my future though.

[Blue Jays]

Good Evening Everyone-

Pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns are durable goods that don't get purchased all that often by the same buyers. You can't measure these trends over a few years because these tools last for a LONG time. Generation-to-generation with the correct care and maintenance. It doesn't strike me as unreasonable for an active shootist to go five or six years between purchases.

The Ruger SP101 .357 I've had my eye on will be my first new purchase since mid-1999. In the meantime, I've purchased two used revolvers and several serious knives.

Used to get the Christian Science Monitor when I was in college years ago. At the time, it struck me as very "readable" and extremely non-sensationalistic. Previously, it featured good, solid, middle-of-the-road reporting. Have things changed at that newspaper?

Regards,

~ Blue Jays ~

[Malone LaVeigh]

Something bothers me about discussions like this.

Everyone's attacking the messenger and rationalizing the report. What we need to be doing is promoting gun activities and gun ownership all we can. The way to do that is to show people how much FUN shooting is. They'll figure out the need to protect it once they are introduced. Until then, it's all abstract.

What organization is working hard to promote recreational use of firearms? One of the successes of the Sierra Club is they have lots of outdoor activities in their local chapters. I know the NRA has training resources and sponsors events, etc, but most people just connect them with Washington lobbying.

I just joined a local sporting group that runs a really good outdoor shooting range. They have lots of events and programs for kids. But I have lived in this town for 15 years and have never heard of one of their events in the local media.

It would be great if local ranges would offer "guest" rates, perhaps during off-peak hours. At my range the fee is $7 for non-members and $1 for members. I'm going to suggest they offer an in-between rate for guests of members. That would encourage members to invite friends out for an afternoon of shooting.

Inviting non-shooting friends out to shoot is something we all can do. Maybe this report is BS, but maybe it's not. We shouldn't try to second guess it. We should just act to make the situation better. We can always use more friendlies.