The number of National Instant Criminal Background System Checks (NICS) conducted in May 2020 shattered the record for the most checks conducted in any May since the inception of background checks.
FBI numbers show 3,091,455 NICS checks were conducted in May 2020, easily surpassing the previous record of 2,349,309 checks set in May 2019.
Moreover, May comes on the heels of April 2020’s record setting checks, as there were more NICS conducted in April 2020 than in any April since background checks on gun sales were conducted in April 1999.
And March 2020 not only set a record for the month of March but actually shattered the all-time record for the number of checks conducted in single month. Breitbart News reported March 2020 witnessed 3,740,688 background checks.
The surge in checks from March through May comes as fear of unrest due to coronavirus shutdowns gave way to fear of mayhem and violence due to protests, which sometimes turned riotous, over the death of George Floyd.
On May 31, 2020, the second day on which protests turn riotous in parts of Arizona, one of the managers of Scottsdale Gun Club said they were seeing a “self-defense buying spree.” He said they witnessed a run on AR-15s and most “major handguns.”
On Monday, June 1, 2020, Scottsdale’s Bear Arms had a line of customers stretching out the door into the hot sun.
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 at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.