High gun sales tracking crime surge, ‘fearful’ arming for fight.

After 50 straight months of gun sales over 1 million, the driver of the historic trend appears to be shifting from concerns about government gun control to personal safety, according to firearms experts.

The FBI this week said that Americans continued to buy guns in huge numbers. The agency recorded 2,035,410 background checks in September and an industry trade group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said that translates into sales of over 1.1 million firearms.

New gun buyers continue to drive sales, and included in that group are women and minorities concerned about safety. They are different from many past buyers who were worried that liberal politicians would ban some gun sales, experts said.

And, they added, with the growth of violent crime and social media’s focus on it, there appears to be no end in sight for high gun purchases as Americans consider fighting back.

Self-protection was highlighted by two experts in two recent crimes. The latest was the armed carjacking last night of a Texas congressman in a heavily trafficked area of Washington, D.C. The other was a Virginia jury’s acquittal of a food delivery worker who shot a social media prankster after feeling threatened.

“The despicable and violent attack on Congressman Henry Cuellar serves as a reminder why Americans continue to choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Crime rates are unabated and criminals prey on innocent Americans without consequence,” said Mark Oliva, spokesman for the NSSF.

“Americans are choosing a different path. By the millions for 50 months straight, law-abiding citizens are choosing their right to keep and bear arms, despite the efforts of gun control politicians to enact laws to chill that right and others that issue unconstitutional edicts that deny that right. Lawful firearm possession is truly the determining factor of the American character — that we are a people of self-determination and not left to be victims of those who have no respect for life or law,” he added.

Justin Anderson, the marketing director at Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, North Carolina, said crime is a big driver.

“Higher crime rates traditionally create more demand for firearms,” he said.

“In our space, concealed carry classes are selling out at our range, and we’ve actually added more classes to keep pace with demand. Though crime hasn’t necessarily risen in our area, social media and the 24-hour news cycle is regularly showing criminals emboldened by liberal policing policies committing crimes that affect law-abiding citizens. This creates fear and fearful people are arming themselves in record numbers,” added Anderson, whose store is one of the nation’s largest gun sellers.

But, said Anderson, while carrying a weapon may make Americans feel more secure, that they have to arm up is a sign of a larger societal problem.

“While we appreciate the bump in business, we’re also looking at the degradation in our culture and we’re fearful of where this is going,” Anderson said.