Surging gun sales following a wave of mass killings helped boost profits at the gun manufacturer to $293.8m, the company announced on Thursday

Surging gun sales following a wave of mass killings helped boost profits at gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson to $293.8m, a 50% increase on last year, the company announced on Thursday.

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Firearms accounted for $657.6m of sales – an increase of 23.8% from last year. Accessories – including holsters, magazines, cases and brand apparel – accounted for $65.3m. Overall sales reached $722.9m – an increase of 31% from the year before, the company announced.

Smith & Wesson’s sales have risen over 200% since Barack Obama was elected president. Gun sales have soared after a spate of mass killings that have sparked fears among buyers of tighter gun control laws. There is anecdotal evidence that the same pattern has followed the murder of 49 people at a gay club in Orlando last weekend.

In May, there were 1.87m background checks for new arms licenses, a record for the month and the 13th consecutive month that a new monthly record had been set. Background checks do not necessarily translate into sales, as not all checks result in a sale and multiple firearms can be bought with a single background check. Yet manufacturers often rely on background checks to measure demand and overall health of the market.

James Debney, Smith & Wesson president and chief executive officer, said that the company benefited “from strong consumer demand”. The demand has been driven up by increased fear over terrorist attacks and Americans’ desire to protect themselves, as well as an increased push for gun control.

Smith & Wesson expects to make between $740m to $760m in net sales in 2017 fiscal year. The guidance does not take into account any potential surge due to mass shootings. On a call with analysts, Jeffrey Buchanan, the company’s chief financial officer, also said that the guidance is exclusive of the election and political cycle, implying that it is not tied to any potential gun control regulations.

When asked if the guidance was already in place before Orlando shooting, Buchanan reiterated that it is too early to tell what impact that shooting might have on demand and sales.

“All we can do as a business is focus on things we know,” he said. “It’s only been a couple of days so it’s hard to say [if there’s] any long-term impact based on two to three days of activity.”

Summer is a slow season for gunmakers and Smith & Wesson hopes to build up inventory before the fall hunting seasons and the winter’s “gift-giving” season.

“It’s be nice to build some inventory,” said Debney. “There might be some challenges there.”

The evening before Smith & Wesson announced its fiscal results for 2016, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, staged a 14-hour filibuster to secure a vote on a proposal to implement universal background checks and a proposal to bar suspected terrorists on the FBI watch list from purchasing firearms. Senate Republicans signaled that they would offer other competing measures, implying that the other two proposals are unlikely to pass through the Senate.

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Even as gun control legislation remains unlikely, demand for firearms has surged, driving the value of gunmakers’ stocks. By end of 2015, the stock value of both Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger almost doubled.

On Monday, the day after the Pulse nightclub shooting, Smith & Wesson shares rose by as much as 11.6% and Sturm Ruger by 10.7%. By the time markets closed on Thursday, however, those gains were erased.

Following Smith & Wesson’s announcement, shares once again rose sharply in the after-hours trading.