Americans Likely Bought More than 15 Millions Guns in 2024

Americans still really love guns, as highlighted by the latest statistics for over-the-counter retail firearm sales from last year.

The year-end data published by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System show 28,097,205 checks were logged between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024, with the busiest single week being that of Black Friday, which saw 613,380 checks.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation analyzed the figures for last year, and after removing checks and rechecks for firearms permits, found that no less than 15,239,011 checks were for likely retail gun sales. Further, 2024 continued a now 65-month trend of consumers purchasing over a million firearms monthly. 

“We are proud that NSSF member companies continue to serve the American public that chooses to exercise their Second Amendment rights by the millions each month,” said NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi. “These background check figures show strong sales and that today’s firearm manufacturers are delivering high-quality products. We are proud that our member companies continue to exceed the high standards that law-abiding Americans demand when it comes to the products that allow them to exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

Going past the NICS data, the true number of guns sold nationwide is even higher.

This is because federal background check numbers don’t include private person-to-person gun transfers in most states or cases where a carry permit is used as an alternative to the background check requirements of the 1994 Brady Law, which allows the transfer of a firearm over the counter by a federal firearms license holder without first performing a NICS check. Further, it doesn’t capture homemade firearms unless assembled on serialized frames or receivers, or purposely registered by the builder with local authorities.