The FBI and the firearms industry reported Tuesday that sales and gun background checks smashed through past records as people grew increasingly worried that the new Biden administration will impose gun controls.
When adjusted just for gun sale background checks, the National Shooting Sports Foundation said that the increase over January 2020 was 75.2%. While not an exact count, the numbers generally track sales.
FBI records showed 4,317,804 background check applications, a 60% increase over January 2020. That also includes checks for concealed carry permits and other gun issues.
And industry analyst Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting estimated that sales in January hit 2.2 million guns, a year-over-year increase of 79%.
And not only was it the highest number of background checks ever recorded (overall and just for guns), but it also doesn’t include thousands of gun purchases in states where the check isn’t required.
Some states saw astronomical increases. Michigan was one of them. “NSSF-adjusted NICS for the state of Michigan in January 2021 were 264.4% higher than January 2020, which accounts for an additional 57,016 checks over the same time period,” the group told industry officials.
Gun sales have been surging for over a year. First, the increase was driven by fears over the coronavirus. They surged again after the Black Lives Matter protests. And the new liberal administration has promised to impose gun control, including a ban on AR-15-style firearms, the top-selling gun in the nation.
Secrets recently visited several gun stores in Virginia and found shelves bare. What’s more, there is little ammunition available.
Justin Anderson, the marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the nation’s biggest and a regular Secrets source for gun sales information, said fears of gun control are driving minorities and women to hurry up and buy weapons.
“His radical firearms policy should continue to stoke fear and uncertainty among those on the fence about buying guns. Uncertainty and fear have always driven gun sales, and we’re seeing many first-time gun buyers exercising their Second Amendment rights. Last year’s sales were nearly double what we did in 2019, and the bubble is not bursting any time soon,” he told us.
