NSSF’s September 2020 adjusted NICS figures are 1.6 million, a 61 percent increase over September 2019, where figures registered in at just over 1 million. This elevated trend is in keeping with what the firearm industry has witnessed since March, when adjusted NICS figures topped 2.3 million, an all-time one-month record. Since then, NICS figures have been between 1.6 and 2.1 million. At this pace, it is possible we could witness more than 20 million background checks for the sale of a firearm in 2020, widely eclipsing the strongest year on record of 2016, when 15.7 million background checks were conducted for the sale of firearm.
This indicates that there is a continued desire for Americans to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. It is plausible that this number could actually have been higher, but inventory is low due to months of sustained high demand. This has been a year unlike any other, where law-abiding Americans are seeing for themselves the need to be able to protect themselves and their family. September also brought with it increased attention by voters to the two presidential candidates. It cannot be discounted that threats by Joe Biden to confiscate, ban, register and regulate out of existence, the firearms American want the most are driving sales. Background checks for firearm sales typically rise during election years in response to threats of gun control. As previously stated, this is a year unlike any other and voters are faced with a choice unlike any other. On one hand is a candidate who has stood for preserving Second Amendment rights. On the other, is a candidate who is on the record for backing forcible confiscation of lawfully owned firearms. The biggest threat to Second Amendment rights today is Joe Biden and gun buyers are reacting to that threat.
2020 Year to Date total: 15.4 million. Strongest year on record was 2016 at 15.7 million.
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.