FBI figures show 2019 shattered the one-year record for the number of National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks performed.
Several one-month records were also broken during 2019.
The FBI reports there were 28,369,750 background NICS checks performed in 2019. The previous record was set in 2016, when 27,538,673 checks were done.
December 2019 helped break the annual record by setting its own high for the number of NICS checks performed. There were 2,936,894, NICS checks performed in December, setting a new tally for the number of checks ever performed in the month of December.
On November 15, Breitbart News reported NICS checks were also at all-new highs during the months of August, September, and October 2019. And on November 26, 2019, Breitbart News reported USA Today’s observation that 2019 could break the all-time, single year record for NICS checks.
A new record has now been set and the climate for gun purchases remains fertile as Democrat presidential hopefuls continue to run on taking away Second Amendment rights, instead of protecting them. Moreover, states like Virginia, where Democrats are in an all-out war against guns, add to fuel to the fire that is driving law-abiding citizens to gun and ammunition stores around the country.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.