Gun Sales Dip In January

Following a strong run last year, gun sales are off to a slow start in 2017 with a 20 percent year-year drop and 26 percent decline from December 2016 levels. In fact, it was the first year-over-year January decline since 2014, and only fifth time it happened since data began being recorded.

Data released by the FBI based on the National Instant Background Check System, or NICS, showed that 2,043,184 checks were made in January 2017 versus 2,771,159 checks made in December 2016 and 2,545,802 checks were made in January 2016.

According to Mass Shooting Tracker, 61 people were killed and 139 wounded in January 2017 in various shooting incidents across the United States. This was higher than the 35/101 number recorded in December 2016.

Click here to see how some of the gun-related stock have responded to the recent trends.

On Friday, shares of:

• American Outdoor Brands Corp AOBC fell 2.24 percent to $20.06.
• Sturm Ruger & Company Inc RGR slipped 1.38 percent to $50.20.
• TASER International, Inc. TASR rose 2.24 percent to $26.30.
• Digital Ally, Inc. DGLY remained flat at $5.05.