The online gunseller with Donald Trump Jr. on its board makes its market debut. Shares plunge

WASHINGTON (AP) — Online firearms seller GrabAGun Digital Holdings, with the stock ticker “PEW,” made its market debut on Wednesday after board member and son of the U.S. president, Donald Trump Jr., rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of GrabAGun spiked, and then plunged 21% in midday trading.

GrabAGun, which also sells ammunition and firearm accessories on its website, went public through a merger with special acquisition company (SPAC) Colombier Acquisition Corp. The Palm Beach, Florida, company said the transaction netted it more than $119 million, which GrabAGun said will be used for working capital and “other purposes to accelerate the company’s future growth.”

Special acquisition companies, sometimes called “blank check” companies, can give startups quicker and easier routes to getting their shares trading publicly, while avoiding the traditional scrutiny that comes with a more standard IPO.

Corporate interest in having Trump Jr. as a member of the board accelerated upon his father’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Trump Jr. had been named to one board seat between 2020 and 2025, and that was his father’s Trump Media & Technology Group in 2022.

Since Election Day in November 2024, Trump Jr. has been named to the board of directors at five companies, including GrabAGun.

There are clear benefits that come with the name.

Trump Jr. was named to the board of drone maker Unusual Machines in the same month that his father was elected. Shares in the company tripled in the days after the announcement.

Shares of the so-called “anti-woke” online marketplace PSQ Holdings, doing business as PublicSquare, more than tripled after it named Trump Jr. to its board in early December.

In February, the financial advisory firm Dominari Holdings named Trump Jr. and his brother Eric Trump to an advisory board, sending its shares from around $3 to $13 in a matter of days.