Sturm, Ruger & Co. reported its highest quarterly revenue since at least 1990, defying concern that the debate over gun control would crimp demand.

Sales for the second quarter surged 50 percent to $179.5 million, the Southport, Connecticut-based company said Wednesday in a statement. That handily beat the estimate of $155 million from Scott Hamann, a KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. analyst, who rates the gunmaker’s shares underweight.

The largest publicly traded U.S. firearms maker is now seeing “true demand” as the federal gun-control push fades, said Randy Bateman, chief investment officer at Huntington Asset Advisors Inc., who oversees $15 billion including Sturm Ruger shares. Annual profit surged to a 25-year high in 2012 as buyers stocked up amid rising momentum built for new weapons curbs.

The quarterly sales were the highest in data compiled by Bloomberg that begin with 1990’s final three months. The previous peak was $155.9 million in this year’s first quarter.

Net income jumped 79 percent to $32.3 million, or $1.63 a share, from $18 million, 91 cents, a year earlier.

Sturm Ruger shares rose 1.5 percent to $51.65 at 5:05 p.m. in extended trading in New York. Through Wednesday’s close, the shares had advanced 12 percent this year, trailing the 40 percent increase for rival Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.