Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone and experts say gun sales were a big hit. But the reduced prices didn't just put manufactures in the black, but to help reduce inventory that was on hand as gun companies stockpiled before the presidential election. But at least one local gun manufacturer feels they dodged a bullet.
At HawkTech Arms on Eagle Road, firearms for competition and recreational shooters are their business, and business has been steady. Since the election the panic buying is gone with a Trump White House on the way, private owners are no longer in a rush, and that has the economics of the industry staying on target.
"I just think there is a general sense of calm in the industry right now about the outcome of the elections and where we are headed with our 2nd Amendment rights," said Dan Hawkins of Hawktech Arms.
On the factory floor of Primary Weapons Systems, Workers focus on making components for their AR Rifles. They say if the election went the other way, they and many other manufacturers would be fighting over the needed raw materials.
"There was a little spike a week and half before the election but nothing too major. It's actually been a really good solid growth year for us," said Stacey Nagy of Primary Weapons Systems
That spike right before the election, along with many polls pointing to a Clinton victory, left many companies sitting on stockpiles of rifles with expectations of a major sell-off. Now those are being sold at a fraction of their original cost. But Idaho high-end companies like Primary Weapons Systems; they're keeping their inventory just where they want it.
"That way you're never sitting on stockpiles of inventory at any given time, you're meeting your demand and of course you keeping your works and machinery busy making new parts instead of making new piles of it," explained Nagy.
