Capping off a great year for gun sales, December of 2020 was the 12th consecutive month of record National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks.
According to data released by the FBI, there were 3,937,066 NICS checks in December, breaking the previous record of 3,314,594 checks, set in December 2015.
This crowns 2020 as what we’ve referred to it as all year: the year of the gun!
And while NICS checks were up every single month of 2020, that doesn’t begin to capture all gun sales. For several reasons, the NICS number falls short of a total count.
First, anybody who has a concealed carry permit has already passed a NICS background check. When they walk into a gun store, they don’t have to run a NICS check again, just show their concealed carry permit.
Secondly, a single NICS check in a store allows the customer to buy multiple guns in that same transaction.
Thirdly and finally, a background check is not required for private sale between two parties in most states.
A Diverse Spread Of Gun Owners
Still, even without an accurate number, last year was one for the record books!
Most notably, 2020 saw a staggering increase in first-time gun buyers, with more than 8.4 million Americans buying a firearm for the first time.
Of that number, an estimated 40% were women. Gun sales to black Americans were also up 58%.
Several months saw the NICS system so overwhelmed that it crashed, delaying gun sales even further. But most estimates put the total number of guns sold around 21 million in 2020.
The politicians and media like to ignore the NICS numbers from 2020, but we couldn’t be happier about them!
After decades of anti-gun propaganda from all sides, Americans just tossed it all out the window in 2020. They made it clear that when the SHTF, they want a gun in their hands!