May 2017 Shatters Background Check Records Set Under Obama

May 2017 shattered the gun purchase background check records set under Barack Obama during May 2015 and 2016.

Breitbart News reported that May 2015 set what was then an all-time record for background checks for the month of May and began a 19-month streak in which each month surpassed background check records. In other words, May 2015 witnessed more background checks than any May in history, then June 2015 witnessed more background checks than any June, and more in July than any July, and so on. The streak continued through November 2016.

Newly released FBI figures for May 2017 show that the background check records set in May 2015 and 2016 are now history. May 2015 saw 1,580,980 checks, May 2016 saw 1,870,000, and May 2017 saw 1,942,677.

Readers must remember that the number of background checks performed at retail is not a precise indicator of the number of guns sold. This is because background checks are performed on the would-be buyer rather than the guns purchased, and a buyer can purchase multiple firearms after passing a check. Therefore, if each buyer purchased two firearms, the 1,942,677 checks conducted in May would mean 3,885,354 guns were sold. If every buyer purchased three, it would mean 5,828,031 were sold.

It is interesting to note the newest month-of-May record comes on the heels of a Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) report that concealed carry surged 215% between 2007 and 2015. CPRC reported the murder rate fell 14% during that same time period.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.