During times of crisis, many Americans turn to their firearms for protection, even Americans who don’t own guns, will start researching their options to make an educated decision on if they want to bring a gun to their home. What I am wondering is if this is reflected in the Stock market.  

In America, we are currently facing times of crisis, gun violence is on the rise, and the Corona Virus is still raging, and the new Omicron variant slows any progress we had for ending the pandemic. It is safe to say that during these trying times, people are reaching for their guns. But in the rise of Gun Violence, I can only imagine it making things worse.

In the past, Gun manufacturers’ shares would see an exponential rise after a mass shooting, and this is a real issue because people would find profit off of the loss of human life. According to CBS News “The largest publicly traded gun maker, rose nearly 10% in the days after the 2015 Orlando nightclub shooting.” (Stephen Gandel, August 5th, 2019, CBS News).  This alone would be alarming except this wasn’t the only time this has happened. “Sturm’s shares rose more than 25% in the month following the mass shooting in San Bernardino” (Stephen Gandel, August 5th, 2019, CBS News). But even more, pressing is the fact that this also happened after a school shooting, thus providing profit for investors off of the death of children. “Sturms shares eventually rose 40% after the shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. (Stephen Gandel, August 5th, 2019, CBS News).

Since the Oxford High School shooting, in Michigan, (NASDAQ: SWBI), (NYSE: RGR), and (NASDAQ: POWW) stocks have dropped significantly, which shows investors are no longer willing to put money on blood, and more specifically on the blood of children. This is the right direction for capitalism because profiting off of blood was becoming a common occurrence, but as investors start seeing this as unacceptable, the more likely we will be seeing different viewpoints about guns in the role of the economy.  

Given that Gun violence now hurts the stock market, more specifically Gun Manufacturing stocks, we might see more political action in stopping mass shootings, providing a safer country, and safer schools. Once something affects you, the more important it is to fight against it, and now that it’s affecting shareholders, we can be seeing a change.