Newsletter: Gun Sales Slide Again, With One Exception

This week, we obtained one other glimpse into the state of the gun business. It wasn’t optimistic.

Gross sales dropped in April. Simply as that they had in March. And the month earlier than that. And the month earlier than that. And so forth.

There’s a massive exception to the gross sales downturn, although: Colorado. In a chunk for members, I check out the dynamics which have saved Rocky Mountain residents headed to the gun retailer.

We additionally obtained some perception into what the lobbying push in Congress appears like throughout the early days of the brand new Trump Administration. Teams on either side have spent tens of millions, however one group particularly is pouring more cash into lobbying than anybody else. And it is probably not the group most individuals count on.

Tennessee additionally struck a blow within the state-level battle over legal responsibility fits in opposition to gun firms. Plus, I interviewed a dozen individuals on the ground of the NRA Annual Assembly about the place they assume the group ought to head from right here. And OSU accounting professor Briant Mittendorf breaks down the NRA’s newest monetary report on the podcast, with a surprisingly upbeat have a look at the place the group may find yourself.

Gun Gross sales Proceed to SlideBy Stephen Gutowski

The variety of FBI background checks related to gun gross sales fell once more final month, in keeping with a brand new business report.

On Friday, the Nationwide Taking pictures Sports activities Basis (NSSF) stated sales-related checks fell by 3.4 p.c year-over-year in April. That continues the gun market’s downward development over the course of 2025, with gross sales additionally falling in March and the primary quarter as an entire. NSSF estimated the variety of Nationwide Immediate Felony Background Examine System (NICS) checks fell from over 1.2 million in April 2024 to about 1.175 million final month.

That makes April 2025 the worst-performing April since 2019, placing it near the pre-pandemic gross sales baseline.

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Evaluation: Colorado Gun Gross sales Surge After Polis Indicators Sweeping New Restrictions [Member Exclusive]By Stephen Gutowski

Gun gross sales are slumping throughout the nation, however one state is bucking that development: Colorado.

Gun-related Nationwide Immediate Felony Background Examine System (NICS) checks have been down by 3.4 p.c year-over-year throughout the nation in April, in keeping with the Nationwide Taking pictures Sports activities Basis (NSSF). Over the identical interval, nevertheless, detailed FBI data present they have been up by 15.3 p.c within the Centennial State. Regardless of rating twenty first by inhabitants dimension, Colorado additionally managed to crack NSSF’s prime 5 in gun gross sales throughout the month.

After all, the explanation why isn’t prone to raise spirits within the gun business. The surge in gross sales corresponds with Governor Jared Polis (D.) signing a sweeping new permit-to-purchase regulation.

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Led by NSSF, Gun-Rights Teams Finest Gun-Management Teams in Lobbying SpendingBy Jake Fogleman

The firearms business’s commerce group has taken an early lead over its friends and foes alike in trying to form gun coverage with the present authorities.

The Nationwide Taking pictures Sports activities Basis (NSSF) spent $1,850,000 on federal lobbying efforts between the primary of the yr and March 31, in keeping with first-quarter Lobbying Disclosure Act reviews. Different gun-rights pursuits, together with the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation (NRA), Firearms Coverage Coalition (FPC), and Residents Committee for the Proper to Hold and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), spent a further $626,904 on lobbying over the primary quarter. In contrast, Everytown, Giffords, and Brady collectively spent simply $400,000 on gun management lobbying over the identical interval.

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Tennessee Broadens Gun Firm Legal responsibility ProtectionsBy Stephen Gutowski

Republican Governor Invoice Lee formally made it tougher to sue gun makers within the Volunteer State this week.

On Monday, he signed SB1360 into regulation after it handed the Home by a vote of 72 to twenty and the Senate 26 to six. That invoice explicitly forbids legal responsibility lawsuits in opposition to business members the place there isn’t a viable declare the corporate’s actions straight induced the claimed harms. It additionally requires anybody who tries to implement an out-of-state judgment in opposition to a Tennessee firm primarily based on claims the state doesn’t enable to pay the corporate 3 times the judgment, in addition to refund its authorized charges.

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Podcast: Have the NRA’s Funds Turned a Nook? (ft. OSU Accounting Professor Brian Mittendorf)By Stephen Gutowski

This week, we’re taking a deep dive into the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation’s newest monetary report.

That’s why we’ve got non-profit knowledgeable and Ohio State College accounting professor Brian Mittendorf again on the present. The NRA simply had its annual assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, which I used to be in a position to attend and choose up copies of the group’s newest annual report. That report exhibits the membership dues, authorized spending, and even conflicts of curiosity at what stays by far the nation’s largest gun group.

You possibly can hearken to the present in your favourite podcasting app or by clicking right here. Video of the episode is obtainable on our YouTube channel.

Plus, Contributing Author Jake Fogleman and I focus on a sequence of authorized filings from the Division of Justice urging the Supreme Courtroom to not hear a case on the federal gun ban for non-violent felons. We additionally have a look at a short it filed on the opposite facet of a gun rights problem, urging the Courtroom to overturn a ruling upholding Hawaii’s “delicate locations” restrictions on gun carry. Lastly, I recap my time overlaying the NRA’s annual assembly, the place reformers made main good points on the highest ranges of the group.

Audio right here. Video right here.

What Individuals on the NRA Annual Assembly Need to See From the Gun Group [Member Exclusive]By Stephen Gutowski

Atlanta, Georgia — The Nationwide Rifle Affiliation’s CEO, Doug Hamlin, estimated upwards of 70,000 individuals confirmed as much as the group’s convention final weekend. The Reload spoke to a dozen or so whereas they perused the cavernous exhibit ground of the Georgia World Congress Heart, which was full of the newest firearms and equipment the business has to supply.

The nation’s largest gun-rights group has been battered by a half-decade-long corruption scandal, stemming from now-former CEO Wayne LaPierre’s misallocation of tens of millions in NRA funds towards lavish private bills. It’s misplaced tens of millions of members, seen its revenues minimize practically in half, and misplaced political capital alongside the way in which. However its corruption trial is now over, and reformers have taken management of its management positions by promising elevated transparency and accountability–one thing that struck a chord with these on the exhibit ground.

“I like the brand new blood that’s coming into it and all that stuff,” Stephen Stinchcomb of Flowery Department, Georgia, who has been an NRA member for about eight years, stated in regards to the reformers. “The previous order is type of getting out of the way in which, and the brand new guys are coming in. You’ve obtained recent concepts.”

Scott, a 30-year member from Chattanooga, Tennessee, stated he favored the brand new faces and voices main the NRA.

“I do assume, on the very prime ranges, very a lot the identical means as we’ve got in Congress, and the nation typically, it’s time for some new blood,” he stated.

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Exterior The Reload

WA State Supreme Courtroom upholds ban on high-capacity magazines | Washington State Normal | By Jake Goldstein-Avenue

Gun house owners urge Fourth Circuit to strike down carry legal guidelines in Maryland, Virginia | Courthouse Information Service | By Steve Garrison

Trump Calls For Large Cuts to ATF Funds, Citing Assaults on Second Modification | Bearing Arms | By Cam Edwards

Feds insist Second Modification doesn’t defend machine weapons | Courthouse Information Service | By Kevin Koeninger

Controversial Israeli official says his nation can be taught from America’s gun legal guidelines | Fox Information | By Rachel Wolf

Pediatricians push for secure gun storage as a part of new Colorado initiative | Denver7 | By Colette Bordelon

That’s it for this week in weapons.

If you wish to hear knowledgeable evaluation of those tales and extra, be sure to seize a Reload membership to get our unique evaluation publication each Sunday!

I’ll see you all subsequent week.

Thanks,Stephen GutowskiFounderThe Reload