Black Friday background checks boost share prices for gun makers

By Christen Smith

The Ruger booth at SHOT Show 2017 in Las Vegas. Share prices for the company and its competitor, American Outdoor Brands, enjoyed a post-Black Friday boost amid reports of record-breaking background check numbers. (Photo: Daniel Terrill/Guns.com)
The record-breaking number of background checks processed on Black Friday translated into boosted share prices this week for major gun makers.
Stocks for American Outdoor Brands and Sturm, Ruger and Co. climbed more than 3 percent Monday amid reports of gun dealers submitting more than 200,000 applications through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System during the annual shopping frenzy last week.
Black Friday — a traditional boon for the gun industry as of late — tops the FBI’s list of 10 busiest days for the third year in a row. According to the agency’s data, six of its highest ranking days fall on the shopping holiday and all but one occur within the the month-long period between Thanksgiving and Christmas
The sales surge comes as welcome news to the industry’s most prolific manufacturers and retailers after a year of double digit losses.
Gun dealers submitted just over 20 million applications to NICS through Oct. 31 — about 9.5 percent behind 2016. Estimated gun sales — the sum total of

Source: Guns.com