GUN SALES BREAK 1 MILLION MARK FOR 38 MONTHS IN A ROW

Regardless of the outcome of the 2022 mid-term elections, Americans keep voting with their wallets when it comes to gun sales.

According to data based on federal background checks for likely over-the-counter gun sales, October 2022 was the 38th consecutive month in which such checks soared past the 1 million mark, putting the year on track to a near-record close.

The 38-month streak was announced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation after they sifted through the figures for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System for last month. The unadjusted October 2022 FBI NICS figure of 2,475,869, after the data is sifted by NSSF to remove checks and rechecks for carry permits, remains at 1,427,264. All-told, last month’s figures represent a more than three year period starting in July 2019 where checks broke the million-per-month benchmark. 

“Background checks continue to reflect a steady interest by law-abiding Americans to exercise their God-given Second Amendment rights,” Mark Oliva, NSSF’s director of public affairs told Guns.com. “Despite the claims of some elected officials that crime is not a national concern, these figures reflect the true sentiment of America. These gun owners are choosing to protect themselves.”

Oliva went on to explain that 2022 is “on pace as the third strongest year for background checks associated with the sale of a firearm,” going back to the NICS system’s establishment in 1998.