Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Donald Trump’s election is a disaster for gunmakers. Really.

Most Democrats want stricter gun laws, and most Republicans oppose them. So you might expect the election of Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress to be great news for the nation’s gunmakers. But surprisingly, the opposite turned out to be the case.

Two of the nation’s biggest gun manufacturers, Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger, saw their stock prices fall by double digits this morning in the wake of Trump’s election victory.

Here’s one theory for what’s going on: In recent years, gun sales have been driven by fears of gun confiscations. Gun sales soared after Obama’s election in 2008 and again when he was reelected in 2012, as people worried that the president would begin to confiscate the nation’s firearms.

In contrast, gun owners have little to fear from a Trump presidency or a Republican Congress. So gunmakers are likely to make fewer sales over the next four years.

More in Politics

The Logoff
Trump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictionsTrump’s DOJ wants to undo January 6 convictions
The Logoff

How the Trump administration is still trying to rewrite January 6 history.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Donald Trump messed with the wrong popeDonald Trump messed with the wrong pope
Politics

Trump fought with Pope Francis before. He’s finding Pope Leo XIV to be a tougher foil.

By Christian Paz
Podcasts
A cautionary tale about tax cutsA cautionary tale about tax cuts
Podcast
Podcasts

California cut property taxes in the 1970s. It didn’t go so well.

By Miles Bryan and Noel King
Podcasts
Obama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwupsObama’s top Iran negotiator on Trump’s screwups
Podcast
Podcasts

Wendy Sherman helped Obama reach a deal with Iran. Here’s what she thinks Trump is doing wrong.

By Kelli Wessinger and Noel King
Politics
The Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything elseThe Supreme Court could legalize moonshine, and ruin everything else
Politics

McNutt v. DOJ could allow the justices to seize tremendous power over the US economy.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
The new Hormuz blockade, briefly explainedThe new Hormuz blockade, briefly explained
The Logoff

Trump tries Iran’s playbook.

By Cameron Peters