Gun Sales Continue To Spike in Summer 2020

Chart from AP NEWS Report on 2020 Gun Sales.

Americans are buying guns in record numbers.

The riots and civil unrest are driving sales, which were already spiking because of concerns over the COVID-19 Pandemic.

According to the NSSF: “June 2020’s adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figures were nearly off the chart. It was the highest figure ever recorded in June and the second highest on record since instant background checks began more than 20 years ago. The June 2020 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 2,177,586 is an increase of 135.7% compared to June 2019.

“The eye-popping numbers began at the beginning of the year and continued to crush records amid the nation’s crises. So far, this year has seen half of the 10 busiest days on record and seven of the 10 busiest weeks — half of them in June.” — AP News

“These figures aren’t push polls,” said NSSF’s Mark Oliva to media. “They are representative of Americans from all walks of life who are taking action and taking responsibility for their rights and their safety.” Total background checks for 2020 now exceed 10 million. The strongest year recorded for adjusted NICS figures was 2016, when checks topped 15 million.

APNews.com has provide more details on the remarkable rise in gun sales, as logged via FBI background checks. AP News Reporter Julie Pane writes:

“Historic numbers of background checks to purchase or possess a firearm were done in June, a trend in a year marked by uncertainty over the Coronavirus pandemic, a subsequent economic recession, protests over racial injustice and calls to reduce police funding.

FBI numbers released Wednesday show that 3.9 million background checks were conducted last month, the most since the system was created in November 1998 [NOTE: these are non-adjusted figures.] The previous monthly record came in March, when 3.7 million checks were done. Each week in June is now in the top 10 weeks for background checks.

Halfway through 2020, just over 19 million checks have been done, more than all of 2012 and each of the years before that.” (Emphasis added.)

READ FULL AP NEWS Report on 2020 GUN SALES »

Here are comparative NSSF-adjusted numbers for the month of May, from 2000 through 2020: