# What sort of things make gun sales go DOWN? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-things-make-gun-sales-go-down/924602 "2020-11-03T00:52:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-things-make-gun-sales-go-down/924602/21 "2020-11-10T18:40:37Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > with animals like coyotes or wolves (which are just big wild dogs,) wouldn’t a pistol bullet (or 2-5 bullets) deal them some pretty lethal damage anyway? If a coyote/wolf is close enough for you to hit it with a shot from a handgun, I’ll put my money on the coyote/wolf. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-things-make-gun-sales-go-down/924602/22 "2020-11-10T18:44:53Z")
I’ve got a question: A preface first though. I know there was always the dynamic some experienced whereby “they’re gonna’ come and take our guns away”, but the election of Obama in 2008 really seemed to be a standout watershed as far as the urgency some had to purchase guns and ammunition. It was a bonanza for gun manufacturers, and there was also a shortage of some types/calibers of ammunition as they struggled to meet demand. The election of Trump presumably assuaged the fears of all but the most ardent of “gun nuts”, and we began to note that some firearm companies were in financial trouble due to flattening or sinking demand. So here’s my question: If said firearm manufacturers were presumably solvent prior to the great gun panic of 2008-2016, why would they be in trouble as the panic subsides? Why didn’t they go from an utter bonanza to merely normally solvent? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-things-make-gun-sales-go-down/924602/23 "2020-11-10T18:51:42Z")
That cite doesnt quite say what you think it does, since: _Industry representatives attributed the subsequent decline to a market correction as well as politics._…_“The industry was in dire need of a correction. We lived through a 20-year bubble. That’s one of the biggest reasons we’re seeing a little bit longer-lasting correction,” said Dave Howell, founder of Howell Munitions & Technology, whose Idaho-based company filed for bankruptcy protection last year._ _Howell dated the boom to the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s and said it extended throughout the Republican administration of George W. Bush, bucking the normal political trend in reaction to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001._ Irrational fears are the main reason, but there is also a growing realization that the police are not there to protect _you._ They protect society, perhaps, but generally not the individual. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-things-make-gun-sales-go-down/924602/24 "2020-11-10T18:55:04Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > I would assume those kind of buyers are demographically stable though or possibly declining. It is odd, rural people are moving out of the country in droves- no jobs and also crappy infrastructure (poor internet, no entertainment, no shopping)- while retired white people are moving into the country at a high pace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-sort-of-things-make-gun-sales-go-down/924602.md?page=1)