Amid the relentless push for more gun control in 2013, there were 21,093,273 background checks for firearm purchasers.
The NRA sent Breitbart News a breakdown and comparison of this number against the numbers from previous years, and a record-setting trend is evident.
For example, the number of 2013 background checks is nearly two million more than the previous record – 19,592,303 in 2012 – and it far exceeds the 14,033,824 background checks performed during Obama’s first year in office.
Although the Christmas season provided only an “average” boost to gun sales last year, December sales were higher than those of any previous December except 2012. The number of background checks during December 2013 sales was 2,041,528.
December 2012 sales were through the roof because the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary created a gun control scare that drove shoppers to buy every gun and every box of ammunition they could find during the last two weeks of 2012.
The strength of gun sales in 2013 lay in their constancy. The whole year was big rather than just one month or one season. This is no doubt because gun control was pushed all year, not just at the beginning or at the end.
It is important to note that the 21,093,273 background checks for 2013 do not represent number of guns sold. Background checks are done on gun purchasers, and each purchaser can buy multiple guns. So the overall number of guns sold could have been two or three times the number of background checks – or more.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.