Gun sales are beginning to slump as Americans’ fears of a pro-gun control president have been alleviated following the election of a Republican president with a favorable view of the Second Amendment.
“Gun shop owners are seeing a steep drop-off in sales since Election Day,” reports The New York Post. Gun shop owners saw record sales in October when a Hillary Clinton presidency appeared inevitable. After posting double-digit declines over the eight trading days since Election Day, Smith & Wesson shares picked up Monday, jumping 2.2 percent in morning trading, to $24.6”
Gun sales had been steadily rising in the days leading up to the November 8th election. Most pollsters expected Clinton, a forceful advocate for gun control, to win the White House. In anticipation of a Clinton gun-grab, many Americans stocked up on arms and ammunition, fearful that the next Democrat in office would double-down on President Obama’s hostility toward the Second Amendment.
But with Trump now set to undo much of Obama’s legacy, gun owners are breathing a sigh of relief.
In May, the NRA endorsed Trump for president, offering the GOP candidate a platform to speak to pro-Second Amendment voters.
“The Second Amendment is under a threat like never before,” Trump said at the time. “Crooked Hillary Clinton is the most anti-gun … candidate ever to run for office. And, as I said before, she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. She wants to take your guns away. She wants to abolish it.”
“We’re getting rid of gun-free zones, I can tell you,” he added.