Background Checks Surge 300 Percent as Americans Flood Gun Stores

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is reporting background checks are up 300 percent over where they were at this same time last year.

Mark Oliva, NSSF Public Affairs director, told Breitbart News, “FBI NICS informed NSSF that on Monday, March 16, 2020, volume for background checks was 300 percent higher than it was on March 16, 2019.”

Oliva added, “Since Feb. 23, background checks have been roughly double every day what they were this time last year.”

The Hill reports that gun controllers like Brady Campaign President Kris Brown are warning that more gun ownership means more accidental shootings.

Brown said, “We’ve seen increases in firearm purchases in response to uncertain or worrisome current events in the past. Unfortunately, we know that not only do more guns not make you safer, but that the opposite is true.”

She added, “Unsafe storage practices correlate to unintentional shootings in the home, what we call ‘Family Fire.’ Everyday, approximately eight children and teens die from these preventable Family Fire incidents.”

Brown did not provide any links or substantiation for claiming approximately eight accidental gun deaths for children and teens each day (which works out to approximately 2,900 accidental gun deaths a year).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s figures show a total of 486 accidental gun deaths in 2017 for all age groups combined. That is roughly a sixth of what Brown claimed for one segment of society alone.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkinsa 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.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.