30 Years of Gun Manufacturing in America

While gun sales have been brisk in recent years, the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 was a boon for the gun industry.

From 2010-2019, an average of 13 million guns were sold legally in the U.S. each year. In 2020 and 2021, annual gun sales sharply increased to 20 million. While the U.S. does import millions of weapons each year, a large amount of firearms sold in the country were produced domestically.

Gun Manufacturing in the United States

According to a recent report from the ATF, the U.S. has produced nearly 170 million firearms over the past three decades, with production increasing sharply in recent years. America’s gunmakers produce a wide variety of firearms, but they’re generally grouped into five categories; pistols, rifles, shotguns, revolvers, and everything else.

Pistols (36%) and rifles (35%) are the dominant categories, and over time, the former has become the most commonly produced firearm type. 

In 2001, pistols accounted for 21% of firearms produced. Today, nearly half of all firearms produced are pistols.