Gun store owners called it the "Trump slump." Sales of firearms slowed dramatically after the election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 allayed fears of a Democratic crackdown on gun owners. That trend has continued in recent weeks even with talk of gun control in Congress and among business leaders following the Feb. 14 massacre of 17 people at a Florida high school. In the past, gun massacres generally led to an uptick in sales as people worried a...

Security has been tightened at shopping malls around the U.S., with nearly 136 million people expected to hit the stores this weekend for the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season.