Stock in U.S. gunmakers ticked upward Friday after a deadly shooting spree at a Texas high school spurred President Trump to promise “action at every level of government” to keep students safe.
American Outdoor Brands, which produces Smith & Wesson weapons, rose as much as 0.7 percent in New York trading before closing at $11.48, unchanged from the day before. Sturm, Ruger & Co. climbed as much as 1.3 percent before giving up its gains to close at $59.95.
Shares of firearms manufacturers have typically climbed when the possibility of tighter gun regulation increases, as they did after the killings of 17 students in Broward County, Fla., on Valentine’s Day and in 2016, when polls predicted Democrat Hillary Clinton would win the U.S. presidential election.
In Friday’s shooting, eight to 10 people at Santa Fe High School, most of them students, were killed after at least one gunman opened fire about 8 a.m., according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. One person was in custody, and a second person detained, he said.
Whether and exactly how Washington might respond legislatively remains to be seen.
“It’s not too soon” for the House of Representatives to pass a law requiring universal background checks for gun buyers, said Rep. Ted Deutch, the Florida Democrat whose district includes Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the February shooting spree. “It’s too late. For at least 8 families. For thousands more student-survivors at Santa Fe High School.”
While the Douglas High shootings prompted renewed calls for Congress to tighten gun legislation and spurred a suggestion from President Trump that teachers should be armed, lawmakers have yet to make any changes to federal law — a possibility vigorously opposed by the National Rifle Association.
Watching news coverage of the deaths at Santa Fe High School “should move you to tears,” Deutch added in a Twitter post. “More important, if you’re an elected official, it should move you to action to keep kids safe. And if it doesn’t, then just get the hell out of our way.”
At the White House, Trump said his administration is “determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools, and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to others.”
Federal authorities are monitoring developments in Santa Fe and working with local officials, he said.
“At some point, we as a society have to say enough is enough,” Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said on Twitter. “We have to come together and do more to protect our kids in school.”
Praying for all those in Texas today. At some point, we as a society have to say enough is enough. We have to come together and do more to protect our kids in school.
— Senator Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) May 18, 2018
— With assistance from the Associated Press.
