Gun Sales Continue to Surge for the 49th Month in a Row

(UnitedVoice.com) – Then-candidate Joe Biden made gun control a cornerstone of his platform when he ran for president in 2020. He pledged to crack down on assault weapons and ghost guns. When he took office, he continued pushing his anti-gun policies, and sales soared.

In August, the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System clocked more than 2 million requests. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) estimated over 1.1 million of those background checks were for new gun sales. That made August the 49th consecutive month for more than a million firearms sales.

This sales threshold was first crossed during former President Donald Trump’s administration in June 2019. Sales never dropped from that mark. NSSF Public Affairs Officer Mark Oliva told Guns.com that Americans are “investing in exercising their Second Amendment rights.” He explained that the numbers show the thirst for “lawful firearm ownership is far from over.”

Oliva blamed Biden for proposing “rules to infringe on fundamental American rights,” but, he also took issue with state-level officials who aren’t enforcing the law, which allows criminals to “prey on communities without consequence.” All of that combined has Americans “sending a clear and unequivocal message” that they will continue to protect themselves and exercise their constitutional rights.

During his presidency, Biden signed legislation that included incentives for states to pass red flag laws, expanded background checks on people ages 18 to 21, and expanded an existing law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing weapons. He also imposed stricter regulations for at-home gun kits (ghost guns), and his administration banned pistol braces. The president recently promised to take on the National Rifle Association (NRA) and put an assault weapons ban in place. Vice President Kamala Harris echoed that sentiment in a post on X.

.@JoeBiden has taken on the @NRA and won.

He can do it again. pic.twitter.com/gix1vXVtRw

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 22, 2023

In August, Biden proposed the broadest expansion of background checks in decades. The NRA called the president’s proposal an attack on law-abiding gun owners.