If we use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System , or NICS, as a proxy for gun sales we see that Kentucky is the runaway leader in gun sales for 2012.
Four states exceeded one million Federal Bureau of Investigation NICS checks; Kentucky, Texas, California and Illinois. Kentucky is the only state to exceed two million background checks.
Background checks are only a proxy measure for gun sales. A buyer may purchase more than one gun through a gun dealer, depending on the local laws, once the background check comes back authorizing the purchase.
The list of states and their 2012 total NICS background checks is compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
State and Total NICS checks for 2012:
States with over 1,000,000 background checks in Bold.
| Alabama 431,356 |
| Alaska 85,342 |
| Arizona 339,663 |
| Arkansas 246,193 |
| California 1,132,603 |
| Colorado 414,838 |
| Connecticut 237,496 |
| Delaware 30,724 |
| District of Columbia 449 |
| Florida 834,319 |
| Georgia 465,560 |
| Guam 930 |
| Hawaii 17,428 |
| Idaho 136,482 |
| Illinois 1,036,061 |
| Indiana 475,607 |
| Iowa 147,700 |
| Kansas 210,972 |
| Kentucky 2,589,358 |
| Louisiana 326,290 |
| Maine 91,834 |
| Mariana Islands 5 |
| Maryland 136,604 |
| Massachusetts 210,453 |
| Michigan 430,405 |
| Minnesota 440,992 |
| Mississippi 222,297 |
| Missouri 513,303 |
| Montana 134,455 |
| Nebraska 85,860 |
| Nevada 146,363 |
| New Hampshire 128,178 |
| New Jersey 85,851 |
| New Mexico 143,419 |
| New York 338,619 |
| North Carolina 489,307 |
| North Dakota 84,867 |
| Ohio 629,215 |
| Oklahoma 367,976 |
| Oregon 267,041 |
| Pennsylvania 968,534 |
| Puerto Rico 15,545 |
| Rhode Island 24,050 |
| South Carolina 308,408 |
| South Dakota 88,447 |
| Tennessee 524,122 |
| Texas 1,436,132 |
| Utah 230,999 |
| Vermont 34,507 |
| Virgin Islands 399 |
| Virginia 448,754 |
| Washington 519,209 |
| West Virginia 225,580 |
| Wisconsin 469,375 |
| Wyoming 63,356 |