Following a strong run last year, gun sales are off to a slow start in 2017 with a 20 percent year-year drop and 26 percent
decline from December 2016 levels. In fact, it was the first year-over-year January decline since 2014, and only fifth time it
happened since data began being recorded.
Data
released by the FBI based on the National
Instant Background Check System, or NICS, showed that 2,043,184 checks were made in January 2017 versus 2,771,159 checks made
in December 2016 and 2,545,802 checks were made in January 2016.
According to Mass Shooting Tracker, 61 people were killed and 139
wounded in January 2017 in various shooting incidents across the United States. This was higher than the 35/101 number recorded in
December 2016.
Click
here to see how some of the gun-related stock have responded to the recent trends.
On Friday, shares of:
-
American Outdoor Brands Corp (NASDAQ: AOBC) fell 2.24 percent to $20.06.
-
Sturm Ruger & Company Inc (NYSE: RGR)
slipped 1.38 percent to $50.20.
-
TASER International, Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) rose 2.24 percent to $26.30.
-
Digital Ally, Inc. (NASDAQ: DGLY)
remained flat at $5.05.
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