Gun stocks rallied Monday in the aftermath of the mass shooting

[Hitman]

Gun stocks rallied Monday in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed more than 50 people and sent upwards of 400 victims to the hospital. It was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

 

 

Why gun stocks rally after mass shootings. The logic behind gun stocks rallying just after horrific events is this: There will be a backlash on Capitol Hill as many lawmakers demand tighter gun control to prevent such tragedies in the future. That discussion will instill fear in many gun owners that their window to buy their favorite deadly weapons is limited, and they'll go out and load up in the meantime.

Some who may worry they don't currently have the firepower to protect themselves in a nightmare scenario may also rush to buy guns.

This rationale is borne out in the numbers. Short-term bumps in firearm sales followed mass shootings in San Bernardino, California, in 2015 and at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016.

The simple moral issue with betting on gun stocks. Making money off a national tragedy that ruins untold numbers of lives and irrevocably alters many more feels wrong in and of itself. Most people would feel little solace if, say, they had some puts on the Standard & Poor's 500 index that ended up making them money in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, when stocks plunged following the attacks.

With the disgusting regularity that mass shootings in the U.S. occur, gun stocks are more or less guaranteed to have a few of these events each year.

The more complex moral issue. What's far more important to gun stocks in the long run, however, would seem to be the long-term outlook for gun control. Incidents like the massacre in Las Vegas add another instance to the mountain of examples showing what is plainly clear: The very wares companies like RGR and AOBC sell are used to facilitate the deaths of thousands of Americans each year.