This week, we got another glimpse into the state of the gun industry. It wasn’t positive.
Sales dropped in April. Just as they had in March. And the month before that. And the month before that. And so on.
There is a big exception to the sales downturn, though: Colorado. In a piece for members, I take a look at the dynamics that have kept Rocky Mountain residents headed to the gun store.
We also got some insight into what the lobbying push in Congress looks like during the early days of the new Trump Administration. Groups on both sides have spent millions, but one group in particular is pouring more money into lobbying than anyone else. And it may not be the group most people expect.
Tennessee also struck a blow in the state-level fight over liability suits against gun companies. Plus, I interviewed a dozen people on the floor of the NRA Annual Meeting about where they think the group should head from here. And OSU accounting professor Briant Mittendorf breaks down the NRA’s latest financial report on the podcast, with a surprisingly upbeat look at where the group could end up.
Gun Sales Continue to Slide
By Stephen Gutowski
The number of FBI background checks associated with gun sales fell again last month, according to a new industry report.
On Friday, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) said sales-related checks fell by 3.4 percent year-over-year in April. That continues the gun market’s downward trend over the course of 2025, with sales also falling in March and the first quarter as a whole. NSSF estimated the number of National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks fell from over 1.2 million in April 2024 to about 1.175 million last month.
That makes April 2025 the worst-performing April since 2019, putting it close to the pre-pandemic sales baseline.
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Analysis: Colorado Gun Sales Surge After Polis Signs Sweeping New Restrictions [Member Exclusive]
By Stephen Gutowski
Gun sales are slumping across the country, but one state is bucking that trend: Colorado.
Gun-related National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks were down by 3.4 percent year-over-year across the country in April, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Over the same period, however, detailed FBI records show they were up by 15.3 percent in the Centennial State. Despite ranking 21st by population size, Colorado also managed to crack NSSF’s top five in gun sales during the month.
Of course, the reason why isn’t likely to lift spirits in the gun industry. The surge in sales corresponds with Governor Jared Polis (D.) signing a sweeping new permit-to-purchase law.
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Led by NSSF, Gun-Rights Groups Best Gun-Control Groups in Lobbying Spending
By Jake Fogleman
The firearms industry’s trade group has taken an early lead over its peers and foes alike in attempting to shape gun policy with the current government.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) spent $1,850,000 on federal lobbying efforts between the first of the year and March 31, according to first-quarter Lobbying Disclosure Act reports. Other gun-rights interests, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), spent an additional $626,904 on lobbying over the first quarter. By contrast, Everytown, Giffords, and Brady collectively spent just $400,000 on gun control lobbying over the same period.
Tennessee Broadens Gun Company Liability Protections
By Stephen Gutowski
Republican Governor Bill Lee officially made it harder to sue gun makers in the Volunteer State this week.
On Monday, he signed SB1360 into law after it passed the House by a vote of 72 to 20 and the Senate 26 to 6. That bill explicitly forbids liability lawsuits against industry members where there isn’t a viable claim the company’s actions directly caused the claimed harms. It also requires anyone who tries to enforce an out-of-state judgment against a Tennessee company based on claims the state doesn’t allow to pay the company three times the judgment, as well as refund its legal fees.
Podcast: Have the NRA’s Finances Turned a Corner? (ft. OSU Accounting Professor Brian Mittendorf)
By Stephen Gutowski
This week, we’re taking a deep dive into the National Rifle Association’s latest financial report.
That’s why we have non-profit expert and Ohio State University accounting professor Brian Mittendorf back on the show. The NRA just had its annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, which I was able to attend and pick up copies of the group’s latest annual report. That report shows the membership dues, legal spending, and even conflicts of interest at what remains by far the nation’s largest gun group.
You can listen to the show on your favorite podcasting app or by clicking here. Video of the episode is available on our YouTube channel.
Plus, Contributing Writer Jake Fogleman and I discuss a series of legal filings from the Department of Justice urging the Supreme Court not to hear a case on the federal gun ban for non-violent felons. We also look at a brief it filed on the other side of a gun rights issue, urging the Court to overturn a ruling upholding Hawaii’s “sensitive places” restrictions on gun carry. Finally, I recap my time covering the NRA’s annual meeting, where reformers made major gains at the highest levels of the organization.
What People at the NRA Annual Meeting Want to See From the Gun Group [Member Exclusive]
By Stephen Gutowski
Atlanta, Georgia — The National Rifle Association’s CEO, Doug Hamlin, estimated upwards of 70,000 people showed up to the group’s conference last weekend. The Reload spoke to a dozen or so while they perused the cavernous exhibit floor of the Georgia World Congress Center, which was packed with the latest firearms and accessories the industry has to offer.
The nation’s largest gun-rights group has been battered by a half-decade-long corruption scandal, stemming from now-former CEO Wayne LaPierre’s misallocation of millions in NRA funds toward lavish personal expenses. It’s lost millions of members, seen its revenues cut nearly in half, and lost political capital along the way. But its corruption trial is now over, and reformers have taken control of its leadership positions by promising increased transparency and accountability–something that struck a chord with those on the exhibit floor.
“I love the new blood that’s coming into it and all that stuff,” Stephen Stinchcomb of Flowery Branch, Georgia, who has been an NRA member for about eight years, said about the reformers. “The old order is kind of getting out of the way, and the new guys are coming in. You’ve got fresh ideas.”
Scott, a 30-year member from Chattanooga, Tennessee, said he liked the new faces and voices leading the NRA.
“I do think, at the very top levels, very much the same way as we have in Congress, and the nation in general, it’s time for some new blood,” he said.
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Outside The Reload
That’s it for this week in guns.
I’ll see you all next week.
Thanks,
Stephen Gutowski
Founder
The Reload
