Smith & Wesson, it turns out, isn’t immune from what’s plagued rival Sturm Ruger RGR, +0.11% or retailers like Dick’s Sporting Goods DKS, -0.20% and Cabela’s US:CAB . Read previous column: Paranoia has its limits as gun sales fall.

And it’s a simple issue — ebbing demand as fears of gun control wane.

The Newtown, Conn., school shooting in December 2012 led many in the public to assume that some sort of legislation to deter the availability of weapons was around the corner. Those people overestimated Congress’s ability to act. By now, that inaction is clear, so even the paranoia that drives gun sales has abated.

Not that Smith & Wesson US:SWHC will say that out loud. “As expected, sales of long guns, including modern sporting rifles, were negatively impacted by lower consumer demand,” is how the company phrased it in a news release after reporting a 23% drop in revenue. Executives were similarly dry on a conference call.

If anything, actually, there’s something to Smith & Wesson’s contention that the worst is over. CEO James Debney pointed out that background checks are starting to pick up again. (Background checks are an imperfect proxy for gun sales.) They’re now down 5% year-to-date, compared to the 11% fall as recently as March.

Even so, Smith & Wesson is working on reducing its inventory, and investors are lowering their sights — the stock is down 33% from June highs.

Debney bragged to analysts that Smith & Wesson has “the highest aided and unaided awareness in the industry.”

Maybe so. But without talks of taking away guns in the headlines, it looks like consumers aren’t taking them off the shelves.