On November 24 the FBI released stats showing the number of officers killed in the line of duty during 2013 decreased by approximately 40 percent at a time when private gun sales were breaking records.
According to the FBI, 26 officers were “feloniously killed” with firearms in 2013. This figure is down from the 44 “feloniously killed” with firearms in 2012, and far below the 63 officers killed with firearms in 2011.
The number of officers “feloniously killed” with firearms has fallen as the number of annual private gun sales has risen.
The NRA-ILA reported that were 16.4 million National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks for firearm purchases conducted in 2011. (The 16.4 million includes Kentucky’s monthly checks on concealed carry permit holders.) And Breitbart News reported this figure was surpassed by a record-setting 19,592,303 NICS background checks in 2012 which, in turn, was surpassed by a record-setting 21,093,273 NICS background checks in 2013.
And Breitbart News previously reported that the number of background checks do not signify the number the guns sold but the number of persons making gun purchases from a retailer. It legally possible that each person who underwent a background check then bought multiple guns, rather just one. With this in mind, the number of guns sold in 2013 could have been many times higher than the 21,093,273 background checks that occurred.
Moreover, private gun sales were also taking place–as they have since the 2nd Amendment was ratified in 1791.
And amid these record setting gun sales, the number of officers “feloniously killed” in the line of duty decreased significantly.
The FBI previously confirmed that violent crime against private citizens also fell in 2013.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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