The FBI released data showing a record number of people across the country applied for background checks in the month of September, revealing gun sales were at an all time high.
According to the new data, 1,795,102 prospective gun owners were processed through the FBI’s National Instant Background Check System in September alone. This is a 23 percent increase from September 2014, when 335,739 fewer people filed for background checks.
The instant background check is a system gun sellers licensed under the Federal Firearms Licenses use before selling firearms. Cashiers check with the FBI via phone or computer before a transaction, and are instantly alerted whether a person is able to buy a gun based on criminal or other ineligible records. This spike in instant checks indicates firearm sales for the month of September were the highest in recent history.
Summer of 2015 overall has also shattered gun sales records according to the data. Between May and September of this year, a staggering 8,251,381 background checks were processed through the FBI. During the same months of 2014, nearly a million fewer checks were processed.
Since this data is based on background checks alone, gun sales are likely much higher than the number of checks because people can buy multiple firearms during one transaction, according to the FBI. (RELATED: White House Says Obama Is Considering Executive Action On Guns)
Though more and more Americans are exercising their Second Amendment rights, Democrats are still calling for drastic gun control overhauls. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is leading a legislative initiative to crackdown on background checks to restrict the number of guns sold. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton vowed on the campaign trail that if elected she would take administrative action to implement tougher gun regulations.
“You’ve got people running for president on the other side who say, ‘well, you know, we just need more guns,'” Clinton said at a campaign even Wednesday. “The idea that you need more guns to stop people who are committing mass shootings is not only illogical but offensive.”