Gun sales hit their 18th consecutive monthly record in October according to newly-released FBI data, and increased by nearly 20 percent compared to the same month in 2015.
A total of 2,333,539 background checks were processed through the bureau’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System for the month of October, according to the agency’s monthly data, 18 percent higher than the 1,976,759 conducted in the same month last year.
A year-over-year record has been set every month since May 2015. The October figure brings the total for the first 10 months of the year to 22,206,233, and puts this year on track to blow past last year’s 12-month record, when 23,141,970 sought to purchase firearms.
If sales for the last two months of the year match those conducted over the same period last year, 2016 will exceed the previous record by about 20 percent. If sales maintain the heightened level represented in October, the annual record will reach about 30 percent higher.
The last two months of the year tend to be the best for gun sales. A total of 3,314,594 Americans applied to lock and load in December 2015, making it the most firearm-friendly month on record.
The number of checks run through the FBI’s NICS system is a reliable indicator of how firearm sales are trending, though there is no precise correlation between the number of checks and the number of guns being sold. Licensed dealers are required to run a check in the database every time they make a sale, but sometimes turn buyers down.
Sales have surged in the wake of ammunition shortages and fears that the Obama administration may seek to restrict Second Amendment rights in the president’s waning days in office. Experts say the equipment being sold indicates interest has spiked out of an all-time high interest in self-defense and maintained interest in hunting.
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“Sales of handguns and ARs have been very strong. Hunting rifles have been about average,” Scott Blick, a managing partner at Ammunition Depot, told the Washington Examiner. “Ammunition sales are definitely following that pattern with sales of 9mm ammo and .223 ammo being extremely strong.”
