November Was 11th Consecutive Month of Record Firearm Background Checks

Andrea Schry, right, fills out the buyer part of legal forms to buy a handgun as shop work
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

November 2020 was the eleventh consecutive month of record National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background checks.

FBI figures show there were 3,626,335 NICS checks performed in November 2020, which represents more checks than were performed in any November since NICS was established.

Breitbart News reported that January through October already witnessed ten consecutive months of record checks. This means January 2020 saw more NICS checks than any January prior, February 2020 saw more than any February prior, March 2020 saw more than any March, April 2020 more than any April, and so on, all the way through October.

Now November 2020 brings the consecutive streak to 11 months.

In addition to the monthly records, 2020 as a whole is breaking the record for the most NICS checks in a given year. On November 9, 2020, the National Rifle Association-Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) reported that the number of checks conducted January 2o20 through October 2020 alone represented “13% more checks than the previous busiest year for the NICS office.”

For example, 28,369,750 NICS checks were performed in all of 2019, but 35,758,249 have already been performed in 2020, and the month of December may yet bring millions more checks into the mix for this year.

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.

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