The Business of Guns

Manufacturers

The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.

—A.E. van Vogt, author

America’s gun business combines two of the country’s most well-known institutions: capitalism and firearms. Unlike murky statistics on gun violence, statistics about gun sales are far more prevalent . Each year, the manufacture, distribution, sale, and resale of firearms and ammunition has an estimated economic impact of some $50 billion, providing over 300,000 Americans with work, generating $15 billion worth of wages, and providing the government with some $6 billion in taxes. Building a Better Gun The majority of gun manufacturers in the United States are not publicly held corporations with a legal duty to report manufacturing and sales information. Nevertheless, most gun companies have one thing in common: age. Many American gun manufacturers trace their history back to the 1800s. Remington

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