Donald Trump’s whiplash decisions on tariffs have brought uncertainty to a sector of the US economy usually squarely behind the president: the gun industry.
For gunmakers, tariffs pose the risk of sharply raising costs on imported raw materials, such as copper, steel and aluminum, as well as safety products like gun locks and lockable cases that often are made overseas.
Most of the guns sold in the US come from US-based manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson and Ruger, but they require components sourced from around the world. The accessories and safety tools included in many gun packages, too, often come from companies that rely primarily on offshore factories. Imported guns mostly come from Austria, Brazil and Turkey, according to a 2024 report on firearm commerce from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
With tariff policy in constant flux, gunmakers and adjacent companies are trying to adapt to a situation that remains fluid.
Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for most countries except China. The Wednesday announcement followed several days of stock market volatility and companies in the footwear and automotive industries trying to adjust to the threat of higher prices.
The Firearm Industry Trade Association (NSSF) worries that tariffs and the growing threat of a trade war will push manufacturing costs upward, stunt the economic growth of the industry and “lead to a reduced consumer demand and exacerbate an already soft market”, it said in a note to its members.
Among sales, taxes and jobs, the gun and ammunition industry contributed more than $90bn to the national economy in 2024, according to an NSSF report.
Ultimately, these costs can price less affluent prospective gun buyers out of what is already a costly hobby, said Kostas Moros, a second amendment attorney.
In many states, gun buyers pay fees for background checks and taxes on their purchases. Adding tariffs to that equation will make shooting a “more expensive hobby”, he said.
Moros, who says he generally has been supportive of the Trump administration’s other moves, said: “If it were just the tariffs, that would be fine, but we have California’s taxes and fees so it’s even worse. It’s pricing people with lower incomes out of the hobby and potentially their self-defense rights.”
“Every day, we’re talking about this. And the frustrating part is that it’s changing,” echoed Shawn Kitchell, CEO of Regal Products, a company that sells gun-safety equipment to gun manufacturers, the military and non-profits. “A business or industry can adapt and adjust our business model to support the tariffs, but with things changing it’s very hard to do.”
Kitchell acquired Regal in 2022 but the company has been selling gun-safety items for more than 30 years. In that time, it has worked with Chinese manufacturers to make gun locks and soft-shell gun cases. Once Trump’s presidential campaign began picking up momentum and talk of tariffs became a central piece of his agenda, Kitchell and Regal began moving more of their manufacturing to Pakistan and Myanmar, he said.
Still, the company has seen costs increase, and in turn its clients, such as the NSSF – which buys cable gun locks from Regal for its Project ChildSafe program – may have to buy fewer products, which means fewer gun-safety devices distributed to families for free.
Kitchell said Regal’s 35-year track record makes him confident that the company can withstand the impact of tariffs, and he hopes that Trump’s promise of temporary discomfort in service of long-term economic health comes to fruition. Still, he is concerned that the temporary pain will mean a disruption to suicide-prevention and gun-safety initiatives because the cost of producing bespoke educational literature, free locks and secure cases will exceed what Regal can do without making cuts to other parts of the company.
“We won’t be able to provide as much public information. There may be some programs that we’re trying to launch and promote that focus in this space that we won’t be able to do,” he said. “We don’t have viable domestic production sources. In an ideal world, we would have exemptions for these types of safety- [and] mental health-focused items.”
• This article was amended on 11 April 2025 to correct the names of the three countries that export the most guns to the US.
