Mass Shooting Research Paper

The United States Economy and Mass Shootings As of late, the American public has been plagued by mass shootings; events where an in-dividual, or individuals, with access to firearms, open fire on people. Compared to other devel-oped countries the United States holds the highest rates of gun violence and mass shootings; both of which are complex issues which affect Americans regardless of socioeconomic status. (Christensen, 2017) Names such as Columbine and Pulse have become imperative when discussing mass shootings in the United States. Researchers and politicians have speculated at length regarding the reason for such events, one reoccurring explanation is the accessibility of firearms in the coun-try. Since the 1980’s, the United States

Varying responses occur after mass shootings, the two most recognized being, fears of increased gun control or concern for one's personal safety. The American public has shown expansive and unswerving support for increased background checks and gun control for firearms. Regardless gun sales continue to rise. The Financial Times of London, an international newsletter with an emphasis on business and economic news reported, following the Newtown mass shooting in 2012, gun sales jumped 52% percent following the event (Crooks, 2013). According to DOJ, after the San Bernardino terrorist attack in 2015, there was also a spike -- 1.7 million additional guns sold from December 2015 to February 2016 (U.S. Department of Justice, 2013). It is relevant to state the data used does not include sales from pri-vate gun owners, gun shows or from gun trafficking, therefore one can conclude firearm sales are higher than stated. The abrupt sale of guns directly impacts the firearms industry, which can be seen in stock changes owned by publicly traded firearm

According to Anandasivam Gopal, author of peer-reviewed journal Traders, Gun and Money, mass shootings and the increased gun sales occurring afterward, cause more companies to manufacture firearms to meet the needs of the public. Given this, firearm manufacturers experience increased purchas-es, increasing their value to investors which causes higher stock prices. Gun sales and stock prices are one and the same; the companies which receive these increased gun sales stocks are directly affected. However, mass shootings, in general, do not have a singular effect on the stock market. There are currently only two firearm companies publicly traded on the stock market, American Outdoors Brands Corp, formerly known as Smith and Wesson, and Sturm, Ruger, and Co. Fol-lowing the Newtown mass shooting Smith and Wesson stock went up 7.19% whilst the volume nearly doubled within a week (Yahoo Finance, 2017). Following the Pulse Nightclub Shooting in 2016 Smith and Wesson stock went up 4.07 points within a ten-day period following the shoot-ing(Yahoo Finance, 2017). Following the Newtown Shooting Sturm Ruger, annual income went from $70.6 million to $111.7 million, whilst profits at Smith and Wesson went from $16.1 million to $78.7 million (Smith, 2015). These companies had an increased revenue of millions