Yesterday, I posted a link to an article in the Wall Street Journal that Dave was interviewed for. The article says, "Dave Matheny started selling gun silencers about three years ago as a hobby and took in about $19,000 in his first month. He now sells close to $1 million of the sound-suppressing devices each month from his Austin, Texas-based Silencer Shop."
I just wanted to clarify this statement, as I think it is a bit deceiving & I've gotten a lot of comments about it. That's in sales, not profit. Actually, our profit margins are not very high as we don't make a lot of money on each sale. We need volume. The numbers are a bit deceiving as it makes it sound like we're rolling in dough. Which, is not true. We've never "made so much money yet had so little money" if that makes sense. It's been crazy. We've put our life savings into this business (and have yet to be paid back by the business), not to mention all our time for the last two years. All of our profits have gone back into building the business. It's very expensive to grow your business. Not to mention, getting into a store front, etc. So, as of yet, we haven't seen much extra money. It is paying our bills, but that's about it. We've worked holidays, weekends, etc. Dave rarely gets home before 8:00 p.m. and has been working 6-7 days/week for 2 years. We have put in the sweat, blood, and many tears with hopes that it will pay off. Sadly, the government can shut us down overnight for reasons that do not make any sense.
People don't understand the laws, or silencers. Silencers are a safety device. Nothing you see in the movies is even remotely true. They are not silent, they make your gun hearing safe. There are many good, legitimate reasons to own a suppressor. For instance, if you own a gun for home defense chances are, if you have to use it, you will not have time to find your ear muffs before defending yourself. Which will result in permanent, irreversible hearing loss. Many ranchers (especially in Texas) use suppressors to fight the very destructive, expensive wild hog problem. And, silencers make your gun harder to conceal (which is actually a deterrent for criminals). They are like a muffler for your car. They help with noise pollution.
It's redundant to do back ground checks on silencers as they do extensive checks before you can buy a gun. So, if you can own a gun, you should be able to get a silencer without jumping through all the hoops. Not to mention, that silencers are already highly regulated. It's not a "loop hole" for criminals. When you purchase a silencer, you have to register it with the ATF, then wait 6-8 months for the ATF to send back your approval before you are able to take possession, and you pay a $200 tax stamp/suppressor.
I'm not trying to sound like I'm complaining, we feel blessed that the business has taken off and is doing well. It's fun to see your hard work pay off. I just think the numbers don't tell the whole story and wanted to clarify.
