Gun Background Checks Set Record For Third Straight Month

The gun control movement is more vocal than ever in the wake of recent shootings, but that hasn’t deterred anybody from exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms. In fact, the opposite has happened.

According to the Washington Times, newly-released FBI statistics show background checks for gun purchases totaled more than 1.7 million in August, breaking records for the third consecutive month and signaling an interest in firearms not seen since the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) began 17 years ago.

Background checks were performed on 1.53 million gun buyers in June, up from 1.38 million just a year ago. Meanwhile, background checks made by federal firearms licensees in July increased from 1.4 million in 2014 to 1.6 million this year, and the number of checks increased by around 200,000 this year for the month of August.

As the Washington Times noted, the number of background checks over the past three months beat the 2000’s numbers by about one million a month.

Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told USA Today that more talk of gun control usually results in an increase in gun sales. And undoubtedly, calls for new gun laws have been renewed after the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina and the shooting of a TV reporter and cameraman on live television in Roanoke, Virginia.

“Whenever there is a call for gun control, sales increase,” Keane said. “The concern that anti-gun politicians are seeking to infringe and restrict the right to keep and bear arms is very real and well-founded.”

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