Last year saw month after month of broken sales records for firearms of all kinds, across the country. Along with them, concealed carry permit applications have also risen, especially among women.
Now, six months into 2016, the numbers from the FBI show April saw the most gun-related background checks of any April on record, making it the 12th month in a row to achieve a record mark for gun sales.
According to this story from freebeacon.com, the FBI ran 2,145,865 checks through the National Instant Background Check System (NICS) last month, representing an increase of more than 400,000 over the previous record set in April 2014.
Even though it was the biggest April on record, the month represented a low point so far for background checks in 2016.
The number of NICS checks doesn’t directly correlate to the number of guns sold, as it doesn’t reflect the number of checks that are denied, or instances of when a person buys more than one firearm at a time, requiring only one background check. Some states also use NICS checks for purposes other than gun purchases, like general firearm permits or carry permits.
However, the number of NICS checks is a good indicator of gun sales.
“Gun rights advocates said calls for gun control from politicians such as Hillary Clinton have fueled the surging gun sales and believe the record levels will continue.”
“’This record setting firearm sales trend will continue all the way to Election Day,’ said Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation. ‘If Hillary Clinton wins, firearm sales will really go through the roof. Gun owners and people concerned about personal security have lost trust in the political class to protect their rights.’”