For the last couple of years, it’s appeared that the best industry in the world to be in was firearm and ammunition manufacturing. The reason is that they simply can’t keep inventory on the shelves. Gun sales have been through the roof.

Yet most surges in sales tend to slow down sooner or later. Everyone who wants a good either already has it or has decided they don’t actually need it.

However, it looks like the gun sales engine still has a good bit of steam left in it.

American gun sales remained strong in 2021, with nearly 19 million firearms sold legally in the U.S., the second-highest total over the past two decades, according to new research from the home and personal safety group SafeHome.

Sales fell 13% from the high of 2020, but were still 40% higher than 2019, annual data compiled by SafeHome.org reveals.

“On an overall and population-adjusted basis, more people are buying guns in almost every state,” according to the organization.

Obviously, that’s good for gun manufacturers. It’s also good for gun stores who can get inventory, though we’ve heard of several that have had to shut their doors for good simply because they couldn’t get guns or ammo to sell.

That’s a less than ideal set of circumstances, to be sure, and not necessarily representative of the industry as a whole.

However, that raises the question of just why sales are so high. There’s an answer to that, too.

“Over the last two years, law-abiding Americans have watched criminals acting with impunity while police departments are defunded,” Lars Dalseide, a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, told FOX Business Monday. “They’ve learned that their safety is ultimately their responsibility. Those are the primary driving forces for increased gun sales and also increased support for NRA-backed constitutional carry legislation making it legal for law-abiding gun owners to carry for self-defense without a permit from the state.”

The researchers used data from the FBI’s National instant Criminal Background Check for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to estimate sales.

The surge in gun sales also comes amid rising interest in survivalist training and disaster preparedness, industry leaders tell FOX Business, as well as firearms training for an increasing number of first-time gun owners.

Dave Katz, CEO of Global Security Group, said that public safety concerns among suburban residents who live near areas afflicted by riots last summer may have led many of them to buy guns for the first time.

Now, the mention of “survivalist training” and such may set off some alarm bells–while many in the gun community are preppers, when it gets mentioned in the media, it’s often to make everyone look like paranoid loons–the truth is that this is probably accurate. I mean, we had a pandemic, empty shelves, civil unrest of a kind most of us have never seen…it’s not difficult to imagine people getting into prepping as a result.

It’s also unlikely that the situation in Ukraine is making anyone less nervous. While many figure it won’t impact us very much, at least not directly, others see this as a potential first domino to fall, which will likely keep the demand for guns high.

So it’s still a good time to be in gun sales.