U.S. Gunmakers Earned More Than $1.7-B In Assault Weapons Sales In Past Decade

A disproportionate number of America’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the last decade, and in that time, gun manufacturers raked in more than $1.7 billion in revenue from assault weapon sales, a congressional investigation found in a report Lydia O’Connor reported for HuffPost.

Photo Insert: The country’s five major gun manufacturers made at least $1.7 billion selling hundreds of thousands of military-style assault weapons to civilians from 2012 through 2021.

The probe into profits from AR-15-style guns was carried out by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in the wake of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers in May.

“How much are the lives of America’s children, teachers, parents, and families worth to gun manufacturers?” the committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), asked in a statement released with Wednesday’s report, which found that the country’s five major gun manufacturers made at least $1.7 billion selling hundreds of thousands of military-style assault weapons to civilians from 2012 through 2021.

Of the 30 deadliest mass shootings in modern US history, 16 occurred in the last decade.

“These companies are selling the weapon of choice for mass murderers who terrorize young children at school, hunt down worshippers at churches and synagogues, and slaughter families on the Fourth of July,” Maloney continued. “In short, the gun industry is profiting off the blood of innocent Americans.”

The committee asked for sales data from Daniel Defense, Smith & Wesson, Sturm, Ruger & Co., Sig Sauer, and Bushmaster.

Sig Sauer, the maker of the weapons used in the Las Vegas music festival shooting in 2017 and the Orlando night club shooting in 2016 ― the two deadliest mass shootings in US history ― refused to provide sales data, the report said, revealing only that AR-15-style rifles make up around 3% of its total revenue.

Bushmaster, whose guns were used in the recent Buffalo, New York, grocery store shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, only provided sales data from 2021.

The report also found a disturbing uptick in such gun sales in recent years. Daniel Defense’s revenue from military-grade rifles tripled from $40 million in 2019 to more than $120 million in 2021.

Ruger’s gross earnings from such weapons zoomed from $39 million to $103 million. Smith & Wesson’s revenue from all long guns, a category that includes AR-15-style weapons, more than doubled from $108 million to $253 million.

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