Okay–so maybe President Obama is (sort of) a job creator…when it comes to firearms. The president’s rhetoric, and that of the Democratic Party, has driven ammo and firearms sales through the roof. Over 100 million firearms have been sold since the beginning of his presidency. Last year, there were a record number of gun sales with over 20 million background checks conducted by the FBI. We’re on track to beat that number this year–and we should expect that number to climb as Election Day approaches. Forget about the consequences to the Republican Party if they fail to win the White House in November - any gun owner and supporter of Second Amendment rights is surely to feel the chill of the former first lady’s anti-gun agenda. One of which includes allowing liberals to sue the gun industry out of existence by repealing the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. We could be seeing a backdoor effort with the Newtown families’ lawsuit against Remington Arms. A Connecticut judge ruled that the lawsuit could move forward and refused to dismiss it, ignoring federal law. But enough with the doom and gloom, the booming gun sales (thanks to Democrats) led those in the firearms industry to create over 20,000 new jobs last year to keep up with demand (via CNN):
The gun industry added 24,763 jobs in 2015 for a nationwide total of 287,986, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.That's an increase of nearly 10% from the year before in manufacturing and retail jobs for guns, ammunition and related supplies, like hunting gear.
Job growth in the last few years has been "nothing short of remarkable," said the NSSF, which reported a job increase of 73% since 2008.
The NSSF, the gun industry group based in Newtown, Connecticut, said the jobs average $50,180 in annual wages and benefits. Many of these jobs are located in rural areas and small towns where cost of living is relatively low.
The top states for gun industry jobs are Texas, with about 21,386, followed by California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and Missouri.
The NSSF said the "economic impact" from revenue, wages, benefits and taxes totaled $49.3 billion last year, an increase of nearly 15% from 2014. This is a broad measure that includes revenue, wages, benefits and taxes related to gun sales.
That’s great news; though I’m sure anti-gunners are lamenting this statistic. After all, they want to destroy the industry with endless lawsuits if the PLCAA is repealed and cast thousands out of work because that’s exactly how they feel progress should be made. Regardless, with these figures, it seems as if Obama and the Democrats are indirect job creators for the gun industry.
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