Despite an apparent dip in total gun sales since US President Donald Trump’s took power, 2019 is still on the running to beat the record set in 2016. While the official numbers for the month of December have yet to be published, the number of firearm checks done so far has put last year in the running to set a new record.
By the end of November, total background checks conducted through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) had reached 25.4 million. Since 2012, the last month of the year typically sets an average of 2 million checks. Given this fact, 2019 could potentially surpass the 27.5 million gun background checks recorded in 2016.
Checks conducted through NICS are typically a good indicator of actual gun sales throughout the country. Although, actual numbers are impossible to track as each check does not equate to a single firearm purchase. Checks are often done for other purposes such as for carrying permits, while some buyers who pass checks do often purchase more than one firearm.
Guns have become quite a popular item to give as gifts during the holidays. Stores across the country do report an uptick in sales during the final months of each year. In 2018, the FBI reported a total of 2.53 million checks for the month of December. In the previous year, 2.58 million checks were conducted.
Industry experts believe that December 2019 could potentially break the 3 million mark as people stockpile firearms amid fears of stricter gun laws. In Virginia, Democratic lawmakers have proposed new legislation that would impose stricter regulators on gun purchases. These include the outright ban on assault weapons, limits on gun purchases per month, and the requirement of universal background checks.
Gun stores in the state had reportedly seen gun sales increased by more than 200 percent during the month of December. The proposed new law by Virginia Democrats had even resulted in some counties becoming Second Amendment Sanctuaries where local law enforcement has majorly agreed not to enforce the new gun control laws.