While firearms have been and still are sold around much of the world, the single biggest market for them is the U.S.
No doubt, part of the reason for the size of the U.S. market is the size of the U.S. population. That certainly has something to do with why the U.S. dominates the music and film industries, too, for example.
Another, maybe even bigger reason, that the U.S. is the biggest market for firearms is that we have the Second Amendment which means that more Americans can legally get their hands on a firearm relatively easily.
And that means that a lot more guns are sold here than in other places.
It may also explain why the U.S. has more legally owned firearms than people… We’re the only country in the world with that ratio, by the way…
All that to say, it makes sense that firearms manufacturers from other countries would want to have a bigger stake in the U.S. market, and Beretta is doing just that. Alvise Armellini with Reuters writes,
Beretta Holding, the owner of historic Italian gunmaker Beretta, has launched an offer to more than double its stake in U.S. sporting firearm manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. as part of a strategic partnership the two firms agreed in May.
Armellini continues:
Chairman and CEO Pietro Gussalli Beretta said the investment in Sturm, Ruger – the only publicly listed firm in Beretta Holding’s portfolio of around 50 companies – was “a concrete step toward strengthening our presence in the United States, the world’s largest market” for firearms.
So, it appears that it’s not some type of hostile takeover of any sort. Instead it is a strategic ownership stake to improve business.
And who can blame them?
My only concern is that, when large companies in other industries have merged, the products that came out of those mergers were disappointing (looking at you, auto industry), and I’m very much hoping that we won’t see that devolution in exciting new firearm designs.
But considering the two companies involved, I think that there’s a good chance that design won’t suffer, and that’s a good thing.
