WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, revealed that the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS) completed 711,372 background checks for the purchase of a firearm at retail during the week leading up to and including Black Friday. FBI’s NICS recorded 192,749 background checks on Black Friday alone, ranking it third in the Top 10 Highest Days for NICS checks and a 2.8 percent increase from Black Friday 2021, when 187,585 background checks were completed. The NICS checks are unadjusted, representing raw data from the FBI and are inclusive of all background checks related to firearms.
NSSF has worked with firearm retailers to spread out special sales offers to customers throughout the week leading up to Black Friday so as not to overwhelm FBI NICS on Black Friday which can result in longer than normal wait times.
“Background checks for firearm purchases were already trending to make 2022 the third strongest year on record, coming off of the outsized years of 2020 and 2021,” explained Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO. “These figures tell us that there is a continued strong appetite for lawful firearm ownership by law-abiding Americans and that firearm manufacturers across the country continue to deliver the quality firearms our customers have come to expect.”
Annual background check data indicated that firearm sales will typically rise during the final month of the year coinciding with hunting seasons and holiday sales.
Below are the breakout tables for each day of unadjusted FBI NICS background checks and The Top 10 Highest Days of FBI Background Checks.
- Sunday, Nov. 21, 2022: 57,665
- Monday, Nov. 22, 2022: 103,543
- Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2022: 109,895
- Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2022: 116,033
- Thursday, Nov. 25, 2022: 29,111
- Friday, Nov. 26, 2022: 192,749
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