Federal Background checks, which are required for every firearm purchase from a licensed dealer, are a good way for us to determine just how busy the consumer gun industry is. Several months into COVID-19 the number of performed background checks remains high as people continue to buy up firearms.

Firearm Background Checks Remain High As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

Firearm Background Checks Remain High As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

Just this last Monday, the FBI numbers for the month of April were released. So far, 2020 has seen a whopping 12 million background checks that have been conducted. After a record month in March with an astonishing 3.7 million background checks, April saw a similar staggering number coming up with 2.9 million checks being conducted.

Firearm Background Checks Remain High As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

In particular, the week of April 13th through 19th saw one of the top ten highest weeks since the system began tracking background check numbers in 1998. For that week alone 766,739 background checks were conducted. Now to be clear not every single one of those background checks would constitute a gun sale. In short not all checks equal a firearm purchased.

In addition to gun sales, background checks are also performed for firearms carry permits and in the particular case of the State of California, background checks are performed for each ammunition purchase. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) adjusted the numbers to not include those checks that were performed for permits which brought the total number of checks down to 1.67 million. This number constitutes a 70% increase over April of 2019.

Firearm Background Checks Remain High As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

The sustained rise in firearms sales seems to be fueled by a confluence of factors of which the COVID-19 pandemic is just one. Generally, firearms sales see a drastic uptick during election years due to the uncertainty felt amongst the population. It seems that these two major factors have contributed to the numbers we are currently seeing.

Firearm Background Checks Remain High As COVID-19 Pandemic Continues

So where do you think this is all going? Will we continue to see the sale of firearms remain high or will this taper off once the COVID-19 pandemic panic simmers down? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments.