The FBI in January recorded the highest ever monthly number of firearm background checks of Americans purchasing guns and applying for conceal-carry licenses, a pace of 82,122 a day, 3,421 an hour.
At 2,545,802, it was the ninth consecutive record-breaking month for background checks, according to the FBI.
At that pace, 2016 is on a path to breaking last year’s record of 23 million background checks in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System for gun purchases from federal firearms dealers and for permits to carry guns.
FBI video.
The huge surge from January 2015, when 1,772,749 background checks were conducted, came as President Obama was moving forward with executive orders to tighten gun control measures and expand the so-called NICS background check system.
Gun control has consumed part of the Democratic presidential debate, with Hillary Rodham Clinton pushing to repeat the type of limits her husband, former President Bill Clinton, succeeded in with the assault weapons ban.
Since that law lapsed, semi-automatic firearms have become best sellers, including AR-15 style rifles. “The big sellers are small, easy-to-conceal handguns like the Smith & Wesson Shield, Ruger LCP, Glock 42 and others, as well as home defense shotguns,” said Justin Anderson, marketing director for Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, N.C., which advertises itself as the nation’s biggest.
Pro-Second Amendment groups are girding for war over the issue in this election year, especially since the death of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the court’s leading voice on preserving gun rights.
Anderson said the surge can also be attributed to the San Bernadino, Calif., terror shootings and the reaction by many to arm up.
“Honestly, I think this is still watershed from the San Bernardino attacks. That even woke up a lot of people to the idea that they are not safe and that their government cannot protect them. We are seeing a huge influx of new gun buyers. In fact, there are so many that it has totally overwhelmed our local sheriff with requests for handgun purchase permits. These permits used to be processed in a week or two. Now it’s taking upwards of two months,” he told Secrets.
“The president’s ‘actions’ added further fuel to this fire. People see that they aren’t safe; that Islamic terrorism is here. Then the government’s only real action is to try to further erode their rights to defend themselves. They’re making the same decision that every gun owner, at some point, has made: to take responsibility for their own safety,” he added.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
