The growing violence and “bloodshed” in Chicago contributed to recording-setting months for background checks in Illinois during 2015, including an all-time single month record in December.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, December, November, August, and June all set monthly records for background checks in Illinois during 2015. And background checks rose so high in December that the state set an all-time single month record.
The sharp increase in background checks was attributed to the December 2 San Bernardino terror attack, the November 13 Paris terror attack, and the growing violence and “bloodshed” in the city of Chicago. For example, the Chicago Tribune reported there were a total of 2,986 shootings in Chicago during 2015, resulting in “nearly 470 homicides.”
Randy Potter manages GAT Guns in the Chicago suburb of East Dundee and he suggests the news coverage of the growing death toll drove many “Chicago-area residents” to buy guns for self-defense as well.
It is important to note that gun sales have been growing in Chicago for sometime, albeit not always at the record-setting pace witnessed in the latter portion of last year. The Sun-Times shows this by pointing out that there were 162,000 background checks performed in Illinois during 2005, but a decade later–in 2015–468,000 background checks were performed.
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.