Gun sales are surging in a surprising state

[sarisataka]

Gun sales are surging in a surprising state

Concerns about looming gun control legislation and rising crime continued to fuel gun sales in America throughout the month of April, according to industry observers.

The FBI conducted more than 3.5 million gun-related background checks last month, a 20% year-over-year increase from April 2020, according to the latest FBI figures released Monday.

Nearly 1.7 million of those gun background checks were specifically for gun purchases, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group that cross references FBI data with actual sales figures provided by gun merchants to determine how many guns are sold monthly.

NSSF spokesman Mark Oliva said the firearms industry sold more guns last month than in any April on record.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/04/business/gun-sales-april-illinois/index.html

[doc03]

1. Why buy guns you can't get ammo? nt

[LiberatedUSA]

8. I was thinking the same thing.

Here in Missouri, word from gun owners is ammo is in short supply. However, Missouri is one of the states that have declared in the form of legislation they will ignore a federal ban; so I guess our residents feel comfortable spending money on guns that have a potential to be banned.

[melm00se]

9. I bought one in April

(and sold 3) and have plenty of ammo.

Ammo is out there, if you are willing to pay a sky high price.

[friendly_iconoclast]

2. In Massachusetts, gun sales increased ca. 25% in 2020 and are tracking even higher for '21

https://www.google.com/search?q=gun+sales+increase+%22massachusetts%22

https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_-_month_year_by_state.pdf/view

MA FBI background checks, January-April:

2018 54,909
2019 59,086
2020 62,339
2021 104,502

Whole year:

2018 211,295
2019 212,316
2020 262,582

[Just_Vote_Dem]

5. When I lived in MA many years ago

there was strict gun control. Guess that's gone

[Dial H For Hero]

7. On the contrary, gun control in MA has only become more strict over the years.

People there are simply purchaeing more firearms than ever before, just as is the case nationwide.

[RotorHead]

10. Why would you assume....

...that increased sales automatically meant less "gun control"?

And why not look it up first?

www.handgunlaw.us

[yagotme]

12. Still strict.

Doesn't mean you can't buy what's not on the ban list.

[hedda_foil]

3. Illinois.

Illinois gun sales
No state has seen more gun sales this year than Illinois.
Federal authorities there have completed nearly 4.3 million gun background checks since January, including more than 955,000 submitted last month.

That's more April gun background checks than the next five highest-ranking states combined.
Texas, which has more than twice the population of Illinois, came in second, with nearly 188,000 April background checks.

[Scrivener7]

4. How sad.

[RotorHead]

11. Why?

[Straw Man]

6. As per the article ...

Last edited Thu May 6, 2021, 12:15 AM - Edit history (2)

... Illinois stats were skewed by a backlog in the state's FOID system: Firearm Owners Identification -- a sort of "gun buyer's license". When the backlog was cleared, a huge number of sales that were on hold were able to proceed. In other words, this doesn't indicate that Illinois gun buyers were markedly more avid than those in other states.