Reuters / Brian Blanco
Reuters / Brian Blanco

Gun sales in the United States have slipped in 2014 compared to last year, but they’re still higher than at any other point in the last decade.

Over the last three months, sales at the gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson dropped 23 percent, with profits declining 32 percent compared to the same quarter in 2013. The news was similar at Sturm, Ruger & Co., which saw profits shrink 31 percent, and Colt Manufacturing, where a net loss of $7 million was documented.

According to the Huffington Post, these declines have been attributed to less intense demand on the part of gun buyers. Typically, gun sales have spiked in the wake of violent incidents – the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, for example – as buyers fear a government crackdown on arms purchases.

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