Even as the availability of guns and ammunition dry up amid a coronavirus and presidential-election…
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by Paul Bedard
Even as the availability of guns and ammunition dry up amid a coronavirus and presidential-election fired shopping frenzy, there were more FBI background checks last month than any September ever.
And with the 2,892,115 checks added last month, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System broke the 22-year record set last year, and there are still three more months left to count.
The FBI today said that it had conducted 28,826,499 background checks for gun purchases and other related services through September. For all 12 months of 2000, the FBI conducted 28,369,750.
While the number is not a one-for-one indication of gun sales, the NICS number is used to gauge sales of pistols, rifles, and shotguns.
Stores around the country have been reporting empty shelves, frustrating customers. And it’s no better online, as even the major gun makers have an eight- to 12-week waiting list.
“Our sales exceeded all of last year’s midway through September, so I can confidently say we have moved into a new era in the gun business,” said Justin Anderson, the marketing director of Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, N.C., one of the nation’s largest gun stores.
“We are excited to see lots of new gun buyers. Women continue to be our fastest-growing sales segment, just ahead of African Americans. Liberals, conservatives, young, old, seemingly everyone is buying guns right now,” he told Secrets.
At the weekend Nation’s Gun Show near Washington’s Dulles International Airport, ammunition was the craze with some vendors selling 9 mm rounds for $1.
Industry officials attribute the splurge to concerns about the coronavirus, the election, and fears of riots related to the Black Lives Matter movement.
And it’s a repeat of 2016 when the presidential race drove gun sales and FBI background checks to record highs amid concerns Hillary Rodham Clinton would ban assault weapons, as Joe Biden is in the current election.