Gun stocks continued their surge on fears of a second Obama term Monday, with shares of Smith & Wesson hitting a 52-week high.
The Associated Press reports:
Shares of firearms maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. hit a new 52-week high Monday after a Wedbush analyst said that gun sales are rising on worries that President Barack Obama may tighten gun laws if he is reelected. ...
THE BIG PICTURE: Smith & Wesson's rivals are also seeing higher demand for guns. On March 21, Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. said that it has received orders for more than one million units, forcing it to stop accepting new orders until it can catch up. Smith & Wesson might be able to gain more market share from Sturm, Ruger & Co. while it halts new orders, Dionisio said.
Similar fears about possible gun policies boosted gun sales for a year after Obama was elected, Dionisio said in a note to clients, although gun laws were little changed.
Pro-Second Amendment groups have begun mobilizing their base for the 2012 election. The National Shooting Sports Foundation introduced a #gunvote button Monday for supporters to put on websites and social media sites.
"We have seen before how the votes of gun owners, target shooters and hunters can make a huge impact in an election," said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF's senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement. "We want to see more gun owners vote in this election because we know that decisions on key legislation and court appointments will have a profound effect our firearms freedoms."