Gun sales remain steady locally

Fear of stringent gun restrictions under a Hillary Clinton regime stoked gun permit background checks nationwide to an all-time high for the month of October.

Background check data collected by the FBI is considered the best available measure of gun sales in the U.S.

The pre-election worries of Second Amendment advocates softened, however, when NRA-endorsed Donald Trump defeated Clinton in the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8.

Since the Republican’s triumph, two major gun stocks — Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger — saw a near 20 percent decline, according to Wall Street. The stocks have begun to rebound, though with slower sales moving forward.

There hasn’t been a significant sales shift with a pair of local gun shops, though.

Not yet, anyway.

Nearly four weeks after the election, Black Sheep Sporting Goods manager Brian Knoll and Northwest Pony Express owner Joe Ellithorpe said business has been steady/Ryan Collingsworth, Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.