Firearms Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 460 firearms manufacturers in the US sell handguns, rifles, and shotguns to distributors, retailers, government agencies, and private individuals. Firms may also manufacture other shooting, hunting, and outdoor products and accessories such as knives and cutting tools, sighting lasers, shooting supplies, and survival gear.
Changes in Federal and State Regulation
Federal and state legislatures frequently consider legislation that may alter the regulation of firearms.
Competition from Used Firearms Sales
Used firearms can often be bought at a savings of 30% or more compared to their new equivalents.
Industry size & Structure
The average firearms manufacturer employs about 50 workers and generates about $20.7 million annually.
- The firearms manufacturing industry consists of about 460 firms that employ 22,800 workers and generate about $9.5 billion annually.
- The industry is concentrated; the top 50 companies account for 89% of industry revenue.
- Large firms include Smith and Wesson; Sturm, Ruger & Company; Remington; Sig Sauer; and O.F. Mossberg.
Industry Forecast
Firearms Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Sep 19, 2024 - Prices Flat, Employment Up
- Producer prices for firearms and ordnance manufacturers were flat in July 2024 compared to a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Since 2019, producer prices have increased 6.3%. Employment by small arms, ammunition, and other ordnance was up 0.7% in July 2024 compared to a year ago. Employment has grown by nearly 30% since the pandemic.
- The July 2024 National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF)-adjusted National Instant Background Check System (NICS) verifications for the sale of a firearm at retail totaled over 1 million, a decline of 4% compared to the previous year’s figure. NSSF reported that July 2024 was the 60th consecutive month to exceed one million adjusted background checks in a single month. The last time background checks were under a million was in July 2019, when 830,579 background checks were recorded. The first year of the pandemic, 2020, set a record for background checks at 21 million background checks for the sale of a firearm for the total year, with the highest monthly total of 2.3 million checks in March 2020. According to the report, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data does not directly reflect arms sales but offers a view of current market conditions.
- Consumer confidence levels increased in August 2024, according to data from The Conference Board. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index was 103.3 in August 2024 from 101.9 in July 2024. Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, noted that confidence was the highest among those over age 35 and those in the income category of over $100,000. Plans for large appliances and smart phone purchases rose on a six-month average basis. Plans to buy a home dropped to a 12-year low while plans for car purchases improved on a six-month average basis.
- Several US gun manufacturers are facing legal challenges related to marketing guns to young people and defective designs, per recent reports. According to the Wall Street Journal, families of children killed in the 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, filed lawsuits in late May accusing AR-15 style rifle manufacturer Daniel Defense, videogame publisher Activision, technology firm Meta Platforms, and others of partnering to market military-style semiautomatic guns to minors. The lawsuit is focused on the advertising and marketing of guns to children, which is not covered in a 2005 federal law shielding gun makers from suits if their products are used in a crime, per the WSJ. SIG Sauer is facing a number of lawsuits related to the design of its popular P320 pistol, the standard-issue pistol for US soldiers. The company was found liable in June in the shooting of a man who claimed his weapon fired when he did not pull the trigger, with the jury concluding the P320 was defectively designed and adequate warnings were not given to the public about the risk of unintended shootings, per The Trace. SIG Sauer has said its gun is safe and has won more than a dozen cases related to the issue, according to New Hampshire Public Radio. The company, which faces more lawsuits related to the weapon’s design, plans to appeal the verdict.
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