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Gunmaker Sturm Ruger Credits Dems Gun Control Efforts With Pushing Sales To Record High

Well done, Democrats.

(Reuters) – Gunmaker Sturm Ruger & Co Inc reported record quarterly sales after fears of new gun controls spurred demand, and the company said it was scouting for a third factory to boost production.

"Strong demand from consumers, coupled with the current political climate, resulted in unprecedented levels of orders from retailers to distributors …"

Shares of the company rose about 8 percent in extended trade.

Sales jumped about 39 percent to $155.9 million in the first quarter from a year earlier. It rose 10 percent from the fourth quarter.

Gun demand has been boosted in part by attempts to ban the sale of certain high capacity rifles and ammunition in the wake of the shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December.

"Strong demand from consumers, coupled with the current political climate, resulted in unprecedented levels of orders from retailers to distributors …," the company said in a regulatory filing.

Background checks for firearm sales, a measurement commonly used to gauge the firearm industry's performance, rose more than 28 percent year-on-year in March, data from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System showed. In February, it rose about 33 percent.