America’s largest gun manufacturers saw a jump in their stock prices Monday morning following the mass shooting that left 58 dead and more than 500 wounded Sunday night in Las Vegas.
Gun manufacturer Sturm Ruger was up more than 4.5 percent, and American Outdoor Brands, formerly Smith & Wesson, jumped more than 5 percent, according to CNBC.
Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel on the crowd of 22,000 gathered below to watch Jason Aldean perform at the Route 91 Harvest Concert. SWAT officers found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after breaching the door to his hotel room.
The corresponding rise in gun stock prices mirrors the trend that played out following the mass shootings in Orlando, Fla. and San Bernardino, Calif., in which traders predicted an increase in gun sales prompted by a resurgent fear of increased regulation in the wake of a national tragedy.
“You saw a two- to three-month surge in firearms sales,” Rommel Dionisio, managing director at Aegis Capital, told CNBC. The two ISIS-linked shootings “certainly triggered something in the American consciousness about personal safety.”
In the month following a mass shooting, the price of Sturm Ruger shares rises by 2.9 percent on average and American Outdoor Brands sees an average increase of nearly 5.4 percent, according to an analysis by CNBC that included all mass shootings since the 1999 Columbine High School attack.
Shares of both manufacturers have fallen sharply since President Donald Trump’s election, as his pro-Second Amendment stance has seemingly reduced the fear of increased legislation that drives purchases in the wake of mass shootings.
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