Business Is Booming For Gun Sellers But They Could Be Shut Down As Nonessential

The Wall Street Journal: Gun Industry Lobbies To Keep Selling Despite Coronavirus Shutdowns
The firearms industry is lobbying state and federal officials to have gun stores be categorized as essential businesses that are allowed to remain open during the nationwide shutdowns meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Business has boomed for the industry in the past week, with long lines stretching outside gun stores across the country. On March 16, background checks were up 300% compared with the same day last year, according to federal data shared with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry association. The total number of checks since Feb. 23 is twice as high as in the same period in 2019. (Elinson and Bravin, 3/24)

The Washington Post: Gun And Ammunition Sales Rise Amid Pandemic Fears
Behind an unmarked metal door in a Maryland industrial park, in the bunkerlike space where Kat O’Connor runs her gun business, boxes of ammo were stacked on a desktop and a table early Friday, awaiting customers. In this spring of pandemic and social upheaval, bullets for home defense are as precious to some folks as toilet paper and Purell, and just as scarce lately. After canvassing distributors, O’Connor had managed to get hold of 7,000 rounds, most of which would be gone by closing time. (Duggan and Weiner, 3/22)

ABC News: Gun Sales On The Rise As Coronavirus Concerns Spread
At gun stores from California to New York, the American people are stocking up in enormous numbers, almost as if the end was near. “Trying to buy ammunition because of everything that’s going on with the virus and stuff, it’s horrible and I don’t want to take any chances,” Angel Colon told ABC News affiliate WPVI in Spanish. (Barr, 3/21)

In other news about what’s selling and what’s not —

The Wall Street Journal: Groceries, Guns And News: What Sells In A Pandemic—And What Doesn’t
U.S. household consumption patterns have gone haywire during the early stages of the global coronavirus health crisis. A Wall Street Journal analysis of high-frequency data from a range of U.S. industries showed sharp declines in spending on hotels, restaurants, airlines and other travel, while spending boomed in other areas including groceries, general merchandise stores, gun and ammunition shops and marijuana suppliers. Mortgage applications surged as interest rates dropped, new car sales in many cities fell and consumers quickly grew reluctant to buy big-ticket household items. (Guilford, 3/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Grocers Stopped Stockpiling Food. Then Came Coronavirus.
Food sellers in the U.S. spent years making their supply chains efficient. Then a pandemic hit, and the strategy backfired. In the past two decades, producers and grocery stores such as Kroger Co. have gone from keeping months of inventory on hand to holding only a four to six weeks’ supply. For many items this month, though, that amount sold out in days. The run has exposed the downside of the food industry’s push to hold less stock in warehouses and operate fewer, fuller trucks to increase profit margins. (Gasparro, Smith and Kang, 3/23)