Great job all of you guns and ammo buyers out there. $109.8 million generated for forest and animal conservation in 1st quarter in 2009. Great news for hunting.
Firearm and ammunition manufacturers paid $109.8 million in excise taxes in the first quarter of 2009, up 43 percent over the same period last year. Released by the U.S. Department of Treasury, excise tax figures are one of the industry’s best indicators of performance. Manufacturers pay the tax — a major source of wildlife conservation funding — on all firearms and ammunition sold (11 percent on long guns and ammunition and 10 percent on handguns).
Between Jan. 1 and March 31, $33 million was collected for pistols and revolvers, $38.9 million for long guns and $37.8 million for ammunition. Compared to the same quarter in 2008, collections were up 65.5 percent for handguns, 42.9 percent for ammunition and 28.3 percent for long guns. Using the latest collections as an indicator of sales, a projection of $1.03 billion was generated in the first quarter. These statistics do not reflect retail markup or final retail sales and are based solely on U.S. civilian sales.
