Lines around the block at the gun shop in Nanuet on
For a few hours after the FBI released Black Friday’s NICS checks numbers, the left tried to talk about how those numbers were down. In fact, they were right: Black Friday’s gun sales were down eight percent over 2019.
But the left stopped crowing when they realized that while Black Friday’s numbers were down, it was still the fourth highest day of gun sales on record. And then when the Cyber Monday NICS checks numbers rolled in, the left went right back to bemoaning how violent Americans are for buying so many guns.
That’s because Cyber Monday’s gun sales MORE than made up for any drop on Black Friday. NICS checks for Cyber Monday 2020 were up 65% over 2019. The FBI reported that 123,700 background checks were conducted, up 4% over the year before.
Fox news reports:
Of the 19.1 million gun background checks conducted year-to-date, 417,465 were done from Thursday to Sunday, while another 123,797 were completed on Cyber Monday, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) said in an email to Fox News. Monday’s numbers shot up 65.2% year-over-year compared to the 74,926 background checks submitted on the same day in 2019, according to the gun trade group’s statistics, which are based on the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
That’s almost 550,000 background checks from Thanksgiving day to Cyber Monday, alone!
The NSSF continued:
According to NSSF data, 47,706 gun background checks were conducted on Thanksgiving – down from 58,478 year-over-year; 186,645 checks were done on Black Friday 2020, down from the 202,465 completed on that day in 2019. Saturday’s figures showed a jump from 94,814 in 2019 to 117,508 this year; and Sunday’s increased from 44,924 last year to 65,606 in 2020.
It’s the same story we’ve heard all year: Americans want a gun in their hand with an uncertain future ahead of them.
Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the NSSF, sent out an email after the Thanksgiving rush, detailing the numbers but also commented on the motivations of gun owners:
“Americans continue to purchase firearms at record pace for a variety of reasons, including concerns for personal safety, onerous gun control plans by a Biden-Harris administration and for lawful purposes including recreational shooting, hunting and self-defense. The fact that the pace of these sales hasn’t slowed since March shows Americans value their Second Amendment freedoms and will exercise the right to keep and bear arms at their choosing.”
When the going gets tough, Americans want a gun in their hand. And with an uncertain political field staring at them in 2021, we don’t see the trend backing off any time soon.