Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearm industry, is celebrating a significant milestone.
For five straight years, the NSSF has recorded over one million background checks each month for firearm sales. This consistently high volume highlights Americans’ desire to exercise their 2A rights!
The last time the monthly background checks dipped below one million was in July 2019, with 830,579 checks.
Since then, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has seen over a million checks every month.
In July 2024, there were 1,060,790 checks, marking a 4 percent increase from July 2023’s 1,023,903 checks.
Joe Bartozzi, NSSF President and CEO, remarked in a recent press release, “These million-plus monthly background checks over the past five years represent the free expression of Second Amendment rights during tough and troubling times, including the COVID-19 pandemic when certain governors were shuttering gun stores and the Biden-Harris administration’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy to revoke licenses to sell firearms.”
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“During this time, Americans who never previously considered lawful firearm ownership decided to become gun owners,” he continued. “We’re proud of our industry’s work to provide the means to exercise those rights to law-abiding citizens across the country.”
The past five years have seen record-breaking numbers in firearm ownership. March 2020 holds the record for the highest number of checks in a single month, with 2.3 million.
The year 2020 ended with over 21 million background checks, surpassing the previous record of 15.7 million in 2016. In this five-year period, there have been 86,410,889 checks for firearm sales!
These figures are likely conservative. Many states have permits allowing buyers to skip additional background checks, meaning actual sales might be higher.
NSSF adjusts its data by excluding permit checks and rechecks, giving a clearer picture of firearm market conditions.
While these checks don’t directly equate to sales, they provide insight into the current market. Multiple firearms can be bought with a single check, and various state laws affect how checks are counted.
Despite this, the steady high number of background checks highlights the ongoing interest and demand for firearms among law-abiding Americans.
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