Firearms manufacturers and dealers faced a slowdown in sales in 2025, which contributed to economic problems for gun companies that closed businesses or filed for bankruptcy protection.
Gun enthusiasts have backed off from buying firearms in 2025 as their favorite dealers have closed their doors.
Firearm sales fell 4.1 percent to about 14.6 million in 2025, compared to more than 15.2 million in 2024, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman reported.
Analysts said a slowdown in the third quarter of 2025 was a wake-up call, but the slowdown continued.
“Slow demand was expected, but slow reaction is not,” Kaleb Seymour, vice president of data and analytics at Gearfire, told SGB Media. “The third quarter was a wake-up call. The question now is who will adapt before the end of the year and who will be caught waiting.”
Gun sales in December 2025 fell 3.4 percent to about 1.58 million, compared to about 1.64 million in December 2024.
Part of the sales decline may have resulted from buyers delaying purchases to take advantage of the National Firearms Act tax cut from $200 to $0 starting Jan. 1, 2026, the report said.
On New Year’s Day 2026, 150,000 NFA applications were submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Removing taxes through the National Firearms Act was part of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful bill, signed into law on July 4, 2025.
Firearms manufacturers that closed operations and filed for bankruptcy in 2025 included SCCY Industries LLC, whose assets were seized by the Volusia County Tax Office in Florida at its Daytona plant on March 11, 2025, for failure to pay nearly $250,000 in tax debts.
On August 1, 2025, the Daytona Beach, Florida-based firearms maker filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, listing assets and liabilities of $1 million to $10 million.
And now, firearms manufacturer and distributor Custombilt Firearms Manufacturing LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after battling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives over its 2023 and 2024 license.
Overland Park, Kan.-based firearms company. filed its petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas in Kansas City on February 6, 2026, according to court documents, BK Data reported.
The debtor, who did not specify a reason for the bankruptcy filing, listed assets between $100,000 and $500,000 and debts of $1 million to $10 million, according to RK Consultants.