With many pressing for stiffer gun laws following the Aurora, Colo., massacre, firearms maker Sturm Ruger & Co. saw second-quarter sales increase by 50 percent from a year ago to $120 million.
Profits totaled $18 million, up from $10.8 million in the second quarter of 2011.
Fairfield-based Ruger makes handguns, hunting rifles and shotguns. During the quarter, it took a minority stake in Kodabow Inc., a crossbow maker in West Chester, Pa.
Ruger suspended new gun orders over a two-month period through late May, due to a surge in orders for which it was unable to match demand.
The company has attributed recent revenue gains to both new products and uncertainty over future gun legislation following the fall elections. The Aurora shooting occurred after the close of the second quarter.
Separately, West Hartford-based Colt Defense L.L.C. saw its own armaments sales increase 23 percent in the second quarter to $45 million. Colt focuses on sales to military and law enforcement agencies. The company said in late July that the Government Accountability Office ruled in its favor after Colt filed a protest of the U.S. government awarding a $16 million contract to Ilion, N.Y.-based Remington to produce the Colt M4 carbine.
