The Buffalo shooting wasn’t a boon for gun and ammo stocks

Not all shootings are such a boon for gun and ammo stocks. The racially-motivated mass shooting in Buffalo, which targeted Black grocery shoppers and left 10 dead, created an initial bump for Smith & Wesson, but by the end of the day gun stocks were down.

During the Trump administration, gun and ammo makers got less of a stock and sales boost from mass shootings, in part because buyers lost their fear that US lawmakers would pass gun control bills and were in less of a rush to buy weapons after each tragedy. The fact that gun stocks are up so high after the Uvalde shooting may be a sign that gun buyers and investors are taking more seriously the possibility that lawmakers will act this time.

In fact, the White House was already preparing to enforce a “ghost gun” rule, banning privately-made firearms weapons and kits without serial numbers that are often used to commit crimes. The lack of serial numbers makes them difficult if not impossible to trace. Last year alone, the Department of Justice reported that about 20,000 suspected ghost guns were recovered in criminal investigations, 10 times more than in 2016. The new regulations will take effect in August.

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