And here’s one that drives disarmament advocates nuts. According to the NRA, there were 311,568 permit checks and “an additional 888,385 permit rechecks.” Translation: There’s a lot of hardware in circulation right now, and as Insider noted in a special report last month, a lot of those gun transactions involved first-time buyers — including many who were unhappy to learn gun control laws apply to them, too.
Interestingly, the last six months have produced six of the top 10 highest weeks and five of the top 10 highest days in NICS history. Let’s keep it up!
https://www.nraila.org/articles/20200511/the-streak-continues-april-sets-nics-record
https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/nics_firearm_checks_top_10_highest_days_weeks.pdf/view
A Busy Week in April
9th Busiest in NICS History
April saw brisk handgun sales as the ‘pandemic panic’ drove people to gun stores.
If gun enthusiasts were making a film, this past April had the makings of a horror movie for Everytown for Gun Safety and other gun prohibition groups as April produced the 9th highest week (April 13-19, 2020) of background checks in the history of the National Instant Check System (NICS), as well as finished as the fourth-highest month ever, dating back to November 1998.
As this column reported last week, April saw more than 2.9 million initiated NICS checks. However, the National Rifle Association did some refining of the numbers and here’s what the organization stated:
Of those NICS checks, the NRA says a whopping 984,872 NICS checks were related to handgun transfers and 508,122 for the sale or transfer of a long gun. Another 34,779 checks were for multiple firearms on the same transaction.
(Source: FBI)
Imports & Exports
We just looked at the spike in NICS checks in April, but it’s interesting to see what happened just before the pandemic panic sent gun sales upward starting in March.
According to a report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), February firearms imports this year were actually in a slump. That suggests domestic gun sales might have been down a bit.
NSSF tracks U.S. “import units” and this past February saw handgun imports drop 11.6% from what they were in February 2019. Last year saw 231,445 handguns come into the country, while this year’s imports topped at 204,600 for the same period. Breaking that down further, this number included 190,142 pistols (7.0%) while revolver imports plummeted to only 14,458, as compared to the 27,085 wheelguns imported in February 2019.
(Source: NSSF)
February rifle imports were also down 23.4% behind February 2019. We saw 36,765 rifles come in three months ago, while last year’s imports hit 48,011.
Shotguns are another frown category, with imports declining 12.3% this year from last for February. The drop was from 54,109 smoothbores to 47,468.
However, this past February saw handgun exports increase 6.6%, to 17,704 units, NSSF reported. That included 13,799 pistols (a 20% increase) but only 1,139 revolvers, representing a decline in round gun exports of 59.5%.
Rifle exports were down 12.6% to 15,429 units, and shotguns were up 3.5%, with 4,879 shotguns leaving our shores.
Everytown Steps Up Game
Amid this eye-popping news came a report that Everytown for Gun Safety, the Michael Bloomberg-backed gun prohibition lobbying group, will spend $8 million to change the political landscape in Texas this fall.
Everytown’s Victory Fund wants an anti-gun Democrat majority in Austin, presumably thinking the changing demographics will provide a November victory. With many Californians and refugees from other liberal states having migrated to the Lone Star State, more than a few Texans have expressed concerns that their new neighbors have brought their same failed politics with them.
But one grassroots gun rights group, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), is telling Bloomberg’s surrogates “not so fast.” CCRKBA and its sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) just hired grassroots expert Glen Caroline, late of the NRA, to energize the troops.
At NRA, Caroline was managing director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action Grassroots Programs and Campaign Field Operations division. Long story short — he knows what he’s doing.
CCRKBA Chair Alan Gottlieb took a swipe at Bloomberg, observing, “He couldn’t buy his way into the White House, so (his) surrogates at Everytown are trying to buy the Texas Legislature in Austin. Apparently Bloomberg has forgotten how Texans love their liberty and independence, and how they will fight to protect it.”
Starting in late 2019 and continuing into this year, Bloomberg spent tens of millions of dollars in a failed effort to become the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nominee. His performance in two debates ranged from lackluster to dreadful, depending upon the critic. He dropped out following Super Tuesday, when he could only win American Samoa.
https://www.ccrkba.org/ccrkba-to-everytown-texas-is-not-for-sale/
https://www.saf.org/glen-caroline-joins-saf-ccrkba-staff-as-director-of-external-affairs/
Arizona Did its Part
According to Cronkite News, Arizona “processed a record 82,771 background checks on would-be gun buyers” back in March.
Between January 26th and May 10th, according to data from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, nearly 6,000 new permits were added (350,666 up to 356,407).
The Cronkite News report acknowledged that the March background checks were equal to nearly one-fourth of the checks done during the entire 12 months of 2019.
One gun dealer in Tucson blamed the spike in sales “on fears that police agency ranks might be thinned by coronavirus infections as well as worries that gun shops might shut down along with other businesses.”
https://www.azdps.gov/services/public/cwp?qt-cwp_menu_=11#qt-cwp_menu_
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2020/04/13/arizona-gun-sales-coronavirus/
Rock River BT-9 Pistol
Fans of AR-platform pistols should warm right up to the latest entry from Rock River Arms, the BT92152, also known as the BT-9 chambered in 9mm.
Designed with a 4.5” barrel and Smith Vortex flash suppressor in front with an SB-Tactical SBA3 Arm Brace in the rear, the BT-9 is built on a billet aluminum lower receiver with flared magazine well to accept GLOCK magazines. It also has a winter-style trigger guard to allow use while wearing gloves, as well as RRA’s overmolded A2 pistol grip and two-stage trigger.
