The FBI’s background-check figures show that 2015 shattered the annual record for background checks, and December 2015 alone broke the record for the number of checks performed in a given month.
Breitbart News previously reported that 23,141,970 background checks were performed in 2015. This surpassed the previous record of 21,093,273 by over 2 million.
And FBI figures show a big part of that was December, with 3,314,593 background checks in that month alone. The previous single month record was set in December 2012, when a population driven by fear of post-Sandy Hook gun control underwent 2,783,765 background checks for gun purchases.
On top of this, single month records were May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December were set in 2015. In other words, May had more background checks that any May on record, June more than any June, July more than any July, and so on and so forth.
According to Fox News, gun control proponent Ladd Everitt responded these surging numbers by suggesting the same gun owners are simply buying more guns. Everitt believes the same people who already owned guns are simply “stockpiling” more, and he based this claim on a Washington Post study which relied on numbers from the General Social Survey, a group renowned for its gun control propensities.
Everitt ignored the myriad testimonies of gun store owners who explained that their business during the booming months of May-December 2015 contained a lot of first time buyers who were not only getting guns, but signing up for concealed carry in response to high profile shootings or attacks.
The bottom line is this–at 23,141,970 million background checks, 2015 was the year of the gun.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.