Gun Stock’s On The Rise After Texas Shooting

People from all over the country ran to their nearest store to buy firearms after the school shooting in Uvalde. The reason: they fear new restrictions will be imposed on gun sales.

At 11 am on Wednesday, an armed 18-year-old-man entered Robb Elementary School and killed 19 kids and two teachers. Later on that day the shares of Smith & Wesson Brands, the largest manufacturer of small firearms in the country rose 9%. Vista Outdoor experienced a rise of 6% and Sturm Ruger & amp. Company rose 3%, according to Gaps Today.

Gary Potter, the owner of Lansing’s Dicker & Deal Second Hand Store said that after a shooting, there is always a spike in sales, although there wasn’t much activity in his store this past Wednesday, according to Bridge Michigan. 

As well, Dru Stevenson, a professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston, told The New York Times: “The gun industry has perverse incentives because the sales and their stocks go up when there are events like this”. 

After a shooting massacre, the debate on gun restrictions always heats up. On one hand, victims and activists claim gun sale policies are far too lightened and are the source of these tragedies. On the other hand, republican members defend the stipulated right of the Second Amendment that permits carrying firearms outside the house “in self-defense”.  

President Biden called for new gun control policies on Tuesday evening, according to The New York Post. He blamed the tragedy on Texas lawmakers and called the state a “ gun lobby.”

“We can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy, but we know gun laws work and have a positive impact. When we passed the Assault Weapons Ban (in 1994), mass shootings went down. When the law expired (in 2004), mass shootings tripled,” said Biden.

To prevent these tragedies, the gun law reforms would have to pass in Congress, which is a tough sell. To pass a bill it is required 60 votes and there are only 50 Democratic seats in the Senate, according to The New York Post.

In the Tuesday press conference, President Biden called out the manufacturers as well: “The gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marketing assault weapons which make them the most and largest profit,” as reported by The New York Post.

The firearms manufacturers are rarely quiet after mass shootings. Last year, the families of the victims of Sandy Hook School in Newton -the most lethal shooting in history- received $73 million from Remington Arms Company, the business that manufactured the AR-15 rifle that was used in the massacre, according to Gaps Today.