There are a lot of new normals in this post-pandemic, post-George Floyd world. And with a President who preaches almost daily about his desire for not only an “assault weapons” V2.0, but confiscating all semi-automatics, the general public has gotten the message and is acting accordingly. To wit: they’re buying guns. Lots of them. Every month.
As the NSSF’s Mark Oliva tells us . . .
March’s NSSF Adjusted NICS figure of 1,556,492 marks 44 consecutive months when background checks have exceeded 1 million. That sustained figure is clearly demonstrative of America’s continued desire to exercise their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase and own a firearm. This trend continues even as President Joe Biden demands stricter gun control measures that only place barriers in the way of law-abiding citizens yet does nothing to address the ongoing issues of crime and access to mental health. Antigun politicians in states like Colorado, Washington, Oregon and California are doing the same thing and these sustained figures show that they are out of step with the concerns of millions of Americans lawfully purchasing firearms every month.
Here’s the NSSF’s press release . . .
The March 2023 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,556,492 is a decrease of 6.8 percent compared to the March 2022 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,669,578. For comparison, the unadjusted March 2023 FBI NICS figure 2,954,230 reflects a 2.0 percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 3,014,465 in March 2022.
March 2023 marks the 44th consecutive month 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.
