TheGunBlog.ca — The Canadian subsidiary of Beretta Holding Group, one of the world’s biggest gun companies, said 2021 sales were “fantastic” and 2022 looks “exciting,” boosted by its brands including Beretta, Benelli, Holland & Holland, Sako and Tikka.
Details
This year “was a fantastic year sales-wise,” said Spyros Chrysochou, who manages the Italian holding company’s Canadian operations as general manager of Stoeger Canada. He spoke with TheGunBlog.ca in an interview this month.
“2022 looks exciting to say the least,” he said. “Right now, our response from our dealer partners has been over the top and hasn’t slowed. The demand and flow-through has been great in ’21 and they see that continuing into 2022.”
Spiking Demand, Top Sellers
Canadian demand spiked this year, boosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s criminalizations targeting government-licensed gun users, concerns related to Covid-19, and as hunters and sport shooters returned outdoors.
Top sellers include the Tikka T3x TACT A1 bolt-action rifle, and the Benelli M4 and Super Black Eagle 3 shotguns.
Demand for Sako and Tikka hunting rifles in general “exploded this year,” Chrysochou said.
Over 50,000 Guns
The holding group sells more than 50,000 rifles, shotguns and handguns in Canada each year, making it the company’s No. 2 market worldwide, behind the U.S.
Buying, selling, or owning any firearm is illegal in Canada unless you’re among the 2.2 million adults or 1,500 businesses with a government-issued firearm licence.
Passion Wins
Passion by gun users will keep driving sales, Chrysochou said, as they defy hostile politicians who seek to suppress firearm owners and gun-import statistics show declines since 2014.
“There’s too much passion attached to it,” Chrysochou said. “And while there’s always passion, there’s always a drive to be involved, to keep buying, to keep using, and really participating in what we all really love. And that’s where you go: you can invest in a graph and in static items, but when you invest in passion, I think you’re always going to win.”