Ho hum. Another month, another million-plus guns sold to an increasing number of Americans who are deciding to exercise their right to keep and bear arms. At this new post-Covid surge level of gun sales, which looks to be stable, the guns that are sold every month aren’t going only to existing gun owners (as the gun control droogs used to tell themselves). More people are deciding to become gun owners for the first time. And some of that is likely due to the fact that in over half the states in the nation now, you no longer need government permission to carry a firearm.

The NSSF’s Mark Oliva had this to say about the May total . . .

May’s Adjusted NICS figure of nearly 1.2 million is holding steady from the figure reported a year ago. Sales of firearms at retail continue to remain robust and this demonstrates that Americans continue to exercise their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms at a steady pace.

By any measure, Americans are telling their elected officials that this fundamental right is a cornerstone of freedom. By the millions, for over 46 months continuously, law-abiding citizens have taken ownership of their rights and responsibility for their safety even as some state and the Biden administration continue to work to diminish and eliminate the Constitutional right to lawfully own a firearm.

 

gun store counter
(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Here the NSSF’s press release on the May numbers . . .

The May 2023 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,174,142 is a decrease of 0.1 percent compared to the May 2022 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,174,791.

For comparison, the unadjusted May 2023 FBI NICS figure 2,343,850 reflects a 3.2 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,272,187 in May 2022.

May 2023 marks the 46th month in a row that has exceeded 1 million adjusted background checks in a single month.

Please note: Twenty-four states currently have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check for that transfer. The number of NICS checks in these states does not include these legal transfers based on qualifying permits and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.

The adjusted NICS data were derived by subtracting out NICS purpose code permit checks and permit rechecks used by states for CCW permit application checks as well as checks on active CCW permit databases. NSSF started subtracting permit rechecks in February 2016.

Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms. 

It should be noted that these statistics represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS. They do not represent the number of firearms sold or sales dollars. Based on varying state laws, local market conditions and purchase scenarios, a one-to-one correlation cannot be made between a firearm background check and a firearm sale.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. Unfortunately, and disheartening, no matter the adjustments made, we cannot reliably determine the actual number of guns sold during any period, nor can we reliably determine the number of first time buyers/permit holders.

    Guess we gotta accept the uncertainty, or enact a more rigorous NICS system, that lets us more reliably know who and how many. If NICS goes away tomorrow, not sure where we would get data from.

    Without NICS, neither the govt, nor us, would ever know who and how many. Does that make NICS a useful tool to keep around, so we can monitor the success of the pro-2A movement?

    • Sam, NICS is not going away. For better or for worse, it is currently the best gauge we have.

      • “Sam, NICS is not going away. For better or for worse, it is currently the best gauge we have.”

        Agree. Just noting the irony that NICS actually serves the 2A community that wants NICS to go away.

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    • Sam you’re gonna “trigger” some into thinking you’re serious…I love it!

      • “Sam you’re gonna “trigger” some into thinking you’re serious”

        Occupational hazard.

        Hmmm. Should I report myself to OSHA?

  3. Why all the buying ? Because people are not stupid and see what is coming.
    Repub. Caucus of Pa. / Bills up again on Monday June 5. UBC , storage , Red Flag.

    Criminalizing the legal exercise of constitutional firearm rights does nothing to truly make Pennsylvania’s communities safer.

    Right now, a crime and violence epidemic is gripping this state and this country. Political prosecutors are setting policies that are putting people who should be behind bars back out on the streets, and they are committing crimes they should not even be able to commit.

    https://www.pahousegop.com/

    • “Criminalizing the legal exercise of constitutional firearm rights does nothing to truly make Pennsylvania’s communities safer.”

      Aaaahhhh, but it does, if you understand the perspective of people who like gun control laws.

      The population control aspect of gun control aside, the people pushing gun control are not viewing the criminal element as a safety threat. They view the non-criminal gun owner as a threat to their safety….in places “good” people congregate.

      “Good” people do not venture into the inner cities, gang territories. “Good” people go to malls, shopping centers, rock concerts, theaters, sports events, restaurants, etc. The gun control advocates are concerned with their own safety, in the places they congregate.

      “Good” people are not concerned that criminals, or gangs, will invade the “good” places, but the law abiding gun owners look like everyday people; nonthreatening. Those gun owners represent a constant danger of going bonkers in a “good” place, and begin a shooting spree. If there can be no guns permitted in the “good” places, then “good” people are safe/safer.

  4. Well that really has to burn theBiden administrations ass, the plan was to get the Americans so broke all they had money for was for a loaf of sawdust bread and a potato.
    Well they can try harder their next 4 years.
    Im certainly glad Dominion has freed up my dilemma on voting. No more lines, taking off work, arguing with the vote for the other guy people. Ahhhhhh progress through technology. What a wonderful world.

  5. The Serbs aren’t stupid.

    “After Mass Shootings in Serbia, Few Are Ready to Give Up Their Guns.”

    “Despite Serbia’s stringent restrictions on gun ownership, criminals have no trouble arming themselves, according to Predrag Petrovic, a researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy.

    “This is not about how strict our rules are but how they are implemented,” Mr. Petrovic said. Rules imposed with great vigor on hunters and other regular gun owners, he added, are rarely enforced for friends of the government or organized crime groups.

    “The law is a one-way street: Ordinary people follow it and gangsters just ignore it,” said Aco Filipovic, a Kraljevo bar owner who said he gave up his gun because of the paperwork and the cost of getting a permit after the laws were tightened in 2015.”

    https://web.archive.org/web/20230602135006/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/world/europe/serbia-shootings-gun-control.html

    • Europe remembers what happens when guns are confiscated, that alone means they will never be disarmed.

      I just hope folks there start sealing up ammo for very long term storage…

  6. Tried to get a gat yesterday. No pistol grip shotties allowed in ILLANNOY.🙄😡

    • Get a Mossburg 500, best boom-stick bang for the buck… 🙂

      • So you say, my opinion is a .410 Pardner Break open. It will shute more then just .410.
        45 44 30-30 444marlin and add a little tape and the options are limitless.

        • The Pardner is so stinking cheap, I oughtta get one just for shits-n-giggles… 😉

        • I have 3 break action single shots. They are the shiznit for training new shooters. And they give an old fart like me a light weight gun for roaming after rabbits.

          My Benelli weighs about 7 pounds. Ditto for my Mossberg 500. Rabbit hunting covers a lot of ground and doesn’t really need a fast repeater.

          An H&R with a pocket full of shells covers that need nicely.

  7. People are buying guns. And?
    My question is how many of those NICS checks are refusals with no follow up? How many are second party/straw purchases? Again with no follow ups.
    A better question to ask is who is selling guns on the street to known felons or minors.
    These teenaged street thugs committing car jackings, robberies, and drug/gang related shootings aren’t building their own guns or finding them in bushes etc. They buy them from someone. Next question is why are those burglarizing homes and cars and stealing firearms not being prosecuted for gun crimes instead of lesser charges?
    Sorry BATFE and Biden and those promoting the disarmament crap. Hate to burst your bubbles and skewer your sacred cows, but it isn’t the average person jumping through the hoops and buying their firearms legally that are the problem.

    • I was just telling the story to a friend of mine yesterday.
      A gal I knew had a revolver, (an El Tigre .38, cant member the country it came from but it wasn’t Antarctica). Anyway she had no bullets for it and ask if I did,”why sure” then a week later she shot her husband because he was cheating on her.

  8. It seems that Joe Biden is turning out to be the best gunm salesman in history!

  9. Keep in mind, a significant number of gun sales now days are leftists gearing up for what they think will happen, their “violent revolution” they have been dreaming of since at least the 1960s. Back then they openly talked about their revolution and how many conservatives they would have to eliminate after the revolution. (about 25%).

    Trouble is coming….

    Be Prepared !!!

  10. USE TO SHOOT ONE GAVE IT UP AT 74 MY SHOULDER COULDN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE , A HECK THE WHOLE BODY CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE .. LEAVES MY OLD 22LR STUFF…
    OLD AGE A BUMMER

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