Coronavirus Bump: Ammo Sales See 168% Jump, Gun Sales Surge 13.7%

As the coronavirus continues its assault into the United States, demand for guns and ammo continue to rise. Multiple sources report massive increases in both gun and ammunition purchases during March. And by all accounts, it doesn’t appear likely to slow down anytime soon.

Coronavirus Guns and Ammo Sales Continue Massive Rise

The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) tracked a 168-percent increase in ammo shipments. The groups uses NASGW Scope, a data analytics platform, to track data from 20 leading distributors.

“The COVID-19 virus is having an overwhelmingly negative impact on the entire country, but if there is any silver lining, it is the boost it’s provided to our industry,” said Kenyon Gleason, NASGW President in a statement. “SCOPE has allowed us to correlate trends with what is happening in the real world with trustworthy data and measure just how impactful this period is in comparison to previous years.”

During the week ending March 14, distributors shipped close to $10 million worth of product. The total represents a 168-percent bump over the three-year average, according to NASGW.

Coronavirus Revives Gun Sales

While ammo continues to explode in sales, gun sales keep increasing as well. NASGW reports a 13.7-percent increase in March over the three-year average. Gun sales languished comparatively prior to the coronavirus outbreak.

“Firearms are driven by concealed carry handguns but we are seeing plenty of slow-selling full size pistols going too,” NASGW Director and President of Tactical Gear Distributors Chris Means said. “Price-point AR’s are also highly demanded and seeing increased sales of mid to higher priced AR’s increasing, but at a much slower pace. Firearms like Mossberg Shockwaves are in high demand.”

But nothing seems to be flying off the shelves, even virtually, like ammo. Online retailer Ammo.com reports an incredible 777-percent increase in revenue since Feb. 23. The 516-percent transaction increase and 350-percent traffic increase constitute an online retailer’s dream.

Ammo.com further reported sales began to increase as the search term “coronavirus” gained traction. Since that time, more customers bought more ammo, a trend repeating itself across the industry. Ammo.com’s top 10 list proved diverse, with conservative states Texas, Florida and Georgia joined by the likes of Illinois and Washington.

The country now weathers shelter-in-place orders and attempts to help flatten the curve. Meanwhile, both guns and ammo sales continue to climb. And with DHS’s recent ruling that the industry belongs among “Critical Infrastructure,” hopefully manufacturers will be allowed to produce to match this demand.

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