Smith & Wesson Stepping Up Production to Meet Record Setting Astronomical Demand for New Guns
Richard Moorhead
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One of the biggest gun manufacturers in the United States is pledging to step up gun production as demand for new firearms soars to astronomical proportions. Smith & Wesson is pledging to boost their manufacturing to “maximum capacity” to meet unprecedented demand.
Gun sales in 2020 have crushed the records set in any previous year by a hefty margin, with the combination of the coronavirus and nationwide race riots aided and abetted by the Democratic Party serving to convince millions of Americans who have never owned guns before that they need to arm themselves.
“As we’ve seen before during these surge periods, these results reflect that despite our record numbers in market share growth, consumer demand for our products during the quarter still exceeded our internal manufacturing capacity levels,” said Mark Smith, CEO of the firearms company that was founded in 1852, in a call on Thursday. “We’re continuing to ramp up…. We’re going to go to maximum capacity.”
The company moved almost 600,000 guns from a period between May and July, smashing its records and depleting its existing inventory of newly manufactured guns.
“When we get into these surge environments like this, and as you can see from the [gun background check numbers] we’ve never seen one quite this high, the demand in the industry just outstrips the industry’s ability to supply,” Smith said. “And we’re no different. You can look at the inventory numbers from us and from some of the other firearms, retailers, and manufacturers, and I think we’re just out of inventory.”
Elevating existing manufacturing levels could prove critical to lowering surging prices for firearms, as retailers are unable to match demand. Ammunition continues to sell for record-setting prices, signaling a need for ammunition manufacturers to meet sky-high demand as well.
Smith and Wesson manufacturers a wide variety of popular civilian firearms, including AR-15 style rifles, a multitude of pistols and revolvers, and .22 rimfire rifles.
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