Guns are "durable goods". Makers aim for multiple sales.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/busin ... s-business

The above link is to a story on the firearms industry's business model.

I don't know the exact definition the federal government uses, but I believe "durable goods" are those which
cost more than $300 and are designed to last for 3 or more years. Guns fit that definition.

Gunmakers have a bit of a marketing problem since if you treat a gun right it can theoretically last for your lifetime.

So the industry's marketing plan is to sell multiple guns to gun enthusiasts to keep sales going.

There is a bar chart in the above link that shows the numbers of firearms made over a long period.

SIA

[Andrew]

Interesting article. While there seemed to be a trend in declining households with firearms from the 70s to the 80s due to urbanization of the U.S. population, I'm not prepared to believe that it has continued. Just from personal experience, I know that my father's household of the 50s and 60s spawned 6 more gun owning households. As economic realities of the late 70s and 80s caused the Sunbelt migration, more folks to left gun restrictive environments for the Southwest in particular, gun sales and usage climbed. I truly believe that the decline in households owning guns is nothing more than gun owners moving to and buying in a registrationless environment.
P.S. and perhaps not answering in the affirmative when polled......

[AEA]

Pretty easy for me to understand......
More plastic guns = lower price point, more profit & less durability.