Fair Weather Buyers

Summer is a time of family vacations, backyard barbeques, fireworks, and increasingly extreme heat and otherwise unpredictable weather. This year has also seen flooding in the Gulf Coast and wildfire smoke that blanked the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic regions. Between the heat, the smoke, and the rain, foot traffic at traditional brick-and-mortar shops across the country saw a sharp decline as many consumers headed online rather than to a physical store.

Recent studies have found that foot traffic to retailers can drop by 5 to 10 percent during heat waves. Heavy rains on weekends can further impact sales for retailers. And the less said about the wildfires, the better!

All of this is bad news for the firearms industry, which already expects foot traffic to decline as the thermostat climbs. This year, the other factors and conditions just made it worse.

“Summer is hot and slow,” said John Monson, owner of Bill’s Gun Shop & Range in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Monson told Shooting Industry that the weather was fine for the 250th anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on and around July 4, but then came the extreme heat and smoke from Canada.

“Worse I’ve experienced in my life,” he added.

Those factors have made 2026 a summer to remember, and not exactly in a good way. Sales for the shop have followed a similar trend.

“We started to slow in Early June and then come July the bottom has fallen out,” Monson continued.

Beating the Heat

Numerous retailers have suggested that there is always a decline in foot traffic in the summertime, but there are other reasons beyond just heat or smoke that impact sales between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

“What affects us every year is the normal summer slowdown. Many customers are traveling, taking vacations, or spending weekends away, so retail traffic and training activity tend to decline compared with the spring and fall,” explained Greg Khitrov, owner of Vintage Arms Inc. in Yonkers, New York.

“Summer 2026 has followed that familiar pattern and has been generally consistent with previous summers,” Khitrov told Shooting Industry, adding that the Canadian wildfire smoke, which brought some of the worst air quality in the world to the region, didn’t have a noticeable impact, nor did the heat, according to what customers had to say.

Moreover, Vintage Arms Inc. aims to help its clientele stay cool.

“The heat has not been a significant issue either, as our showroom and classroom are fully air-conditioned and comfortable for customers,” said Khitrov.

Summer Just Isn’t Buying Season

Family vacations and other outdoor activities typically result in a seasonal slowdown, and that was certainly true this year. That doesn’t mean that the regulars and other familiar faces aren’t still making an appearance.

“We live in a very rural community, so our customers are generally the same people. We do get new people in every week, but the ones who come and buy faithfully are the same people who came the day we opened up shop,” said

Jonathan Conroy, owner of Old Glory Firearms in Gladstone, Michigan.

Conroy said that 2026 has been slower than even last summer. He couldn’t pinpoint why, but said it may have been a different kind of extreme weather that is playing a role, and by that he means the frigid temperatures that hit in January.

The Great Lakes region endured several weeks of record cold at the start of the year, and rain in the spring.

“The weather definitely is an impact to us. Normally our summers are slow income months,” Conroy told Shooting Industry. “The winter was long and harsh, and there’s so much to do in the short months of summer. People are so happy to have the sun shining finally; they are either camping or fishing, or fixing their homes.”

The extreme heat and the smoke could still be another factor, he acknowledged.

“Currently we have the horrible smoke from Canada crowding the sun and making the air not nice to breathe,” said Conroy.

The story was the same with other retailers across the country. As those vacations and other outdoor activities pick up, retail traffic and training activities tend to decline compared with the spring and fall season.

“We have not seen weather alone prevent customers from shooting or making purchases,” Vintage Arms Inc.’s Khitrov told Shooting Industry. “The broader issue is simply that people have different priorities and schedules during the summer months.”

By The Numbers in the Keystone State

Duane Hammaker of Guns Plus LLC of Duncannon, Pennsylvania, a self-described small brick-and-mortar shop in the center of the Keystone State, said that this summer has seen a slight decrease in sales over last year for the same period of time.

He took a few minutes to crunch the numbers and told Shooting Industry that his ammunition sales were down two percent for the period May 1 through July 20 from 2025 to 2026. Rifle sales, new and used combined, were down seven percent over the same period of time.

“If we were to look at some key factors, I think we would see that in our geography we are experiencing what seem to be some hotter days with high humidity, which make range days less fun, but overall, I see the amount of used firearms we are purchasing has increased,” Hammaker explained. “Our over-the-counter gun purchases have increased by 11 percent so far this year 2026 January 1 through June 30. To us, this is indicative of the need for folks to raise cash for the daily needs of life.”

No Sales Trend

Finally, from speaking with retailers in different parts of the country, it has also become apparent that the first half of 2026 hasn’t seen one firearm category standing out more than others.

“We sell way more long guns than handguns, and I don’t really know why,” said Conway in Michigan. “People tend to buy one handgun and use it for multiple purposes. However, people love their hunting rifles and shotguns! It always interests me what people buy and why.”

Back east in New York, Khitrov said both handguns and long guns continue to sell. Still, he added, “Overall foot traffic has a greater impact than any major change in customer preference between the two categories.”

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