Over the past two decades, America's understanding of who a gun owner is, and what they own, has changed.
Asked to picture a typical gun owner in the 1990s, you'd have been right to think of a sportsman, a hunter.
That's no longer the case. But if you think the typical gun owner today is toting an assault rifle, you'd be wrong.
The truth is that the sales that are driving the industry — and stock prices — to records, are of handguns.
They're being sold to Americans who have been swayed by two-decade effort to push guns for protection — all to revive a once-flagging business.
Americans are buying nearly $2 billion worth of handguns each year, according to Smith & Wesson, America's largest gunmaker. And business has been growing: In 2000, there were 10 million National Instant Criminal Background Checks. The industry uses that figure to understand how many people are buying guns. In 2015, that number hit 23.1 million.
What's more, the data points to people stockpiling weapons, not just buying them. In 1994, a gun-owning household might have four guns, according to The Washington Post. In 2013, that number doubled. So just at Smith & Wesson, total sales — including ammunition and accessories— have ballooned to over $700 million a year.
So what changed? Yes, the product — and likely in ways you wouldn't expect. But more important, the marketing changed: The gun industry changed its story, and that changed America's story.
It's part of how we got to where we are, which is a horrific place.
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