Report: More Than 17 Million Guns Sold in U.S. During 2022

A report from SafeHome.org indicates there were 17.4 million guns sold in the U.S. during 2022, and approximately 1.4 million have been sold each month in 2023.

SafeHome arrived at the figure of 17.4 million by examining FBI data on National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks, and counting every “long gun and handgun check was counted as 1.1 sales,” while counting a multiple gun NICS check as two sales. (NICS checks conducted for concealed carry permits and other non-sale matters were not counted.)

Using SafeHome’s methodology, three states–California, Florida, and Texas–witnessed over a million guns sold, with Texas seeing the most sales.

A total of 1,063,033 guns were sold in California, 1,304,362, in Florida, and 1,452,990 in Texas.

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Centennial Institute/Western Conservative Summit 2023

If examined through a per-capita approach, Alaska led the way with 872 guns sold per 10,000 residents aged 21 or above. Montana finished second with 830 per 10,000 residents aged 21 or above and Wyoming finished third with 806.

Breitbart News reached out to National Shooting Sports (NSSF), which keeps track of gun sales on both an annual and monthly basis. NSSF reported 16,4 million guns sold in 2022, which is one million firearms less than reported by SafeHome.

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 and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.