n March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency concerning the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. Three days later, gun sales in the United States peaked at approximately 176,000, according to an analysis of data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), a commonly used measure of gun sales.
Gun sales were so robust in the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic that total sales for March 2020 (6.95 per 1,000 people in the U.S.) exceeded the previous record month, set in December 2012 following the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. That event amplified existing concerns that newly reelected President Barack Obama would seek strong gun control laws, including an “assault weapons” ban. With gun sales in April and May 2020 also exceeding the previous year’s figures, it was clear that COVID-19 had supplanted Obama as the “Greatest Gun Salesman” in U.S. history.
As it turns out, this was just the beginning of a gun-buying spree that spiked again in the summer, after the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers and the sometimes-violent protests that followed. Although not as high as March’s record, gun sales in June again exceeded 2 million.
The NSSF also estimated that 40% of all gun purchasers in 2020 did not currently own guns.
by David Yamane
Be sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram, buttons on the right side of the page.
Subscribe to our email Newsletter at the bottom of the page!
#firearms #firearmstraining #guns #handguns #rifles #shotguns #shooting #shootingsports #ammo #gunsmith #2a #selfdefense #competitiveshooting #competitionshooting #molonlabe #nra #National Rifle Association #guncrafttraining
