97 Pennsylvania Residents Try to Buy, Transfer a Gun Every Hour

Over 97 Pennsylvania residents tried to buy or transfer a gun each hour during the first three months of 2016.

The raw numbers come from the Pennsylvania State Police, whose Quarterly Firearms Purchase Denials report for the Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) shows a total of 311,344 background checks performed during the months January, February, and March. Of these, Penn Live reports that “213,054 background checks [were] for people hoping to obtain a firearm.”  The other checks were performed on people applying for concealed carry permits, etc.

The figure of 213,054 PICS checks is a significant jump over the 180,938 performed during the same time in 2015; It indicates more than 97 Pennsylvania residents were trying to buy or transfer a gun every hour.

This state-based sample of background checks squares with what have been 11 consecutive months of record breaking background checks at the federal level. Breitbart News previously reported that May, 2015 was the highest May on record for federal background checks, June 2015 the highest June, July 2015 the highest July, etc. This also squares with a CNN Money report that federal background checks were up “36 percent” during the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of 2015.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.