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The NICS checks for March, 2017 were 2,433,092.  That is the third highest number of NICS checks for any March. The highest was in 2016, with 2,523,265. The second highest February was in 2014, with 2,488,842.  Both of those were driven by fear of strong gun control measures that might be passed by President Obama.The Trump era of the National Instant Criminal Background  Check System  (NICS) checks has finished its first quarter. There have been four presidents that have had NICS checks done while they were in office. There were two years and two months of NICS checks under...

On a day when legislation benefiting women and black colleges and universities was signed with much pomp and circumstance, President Trump quietly followed through on his pledge to defend the Second Amendment by signing the repeal of Barack Obama’s Social Security gun ban. The U.S, House voted to repeal the ban on February 2 and the Senate voted to repeal it on February 15. The ban was fashioned behind closed doors in the summer of 2015 and Breitbart News reported: The specific details of the ban are unknown, as it is being put together “outside of public view.” But the...

 The NICS checks for January, 2017 were 2,043,184.  That is the third highest number of NICS checks for any January.  The highest was in 2016, with 2,545,802. The second highest was in 2013, with 2,495,440.  Both of those were driven by fear of strong gun control measures that might be passed by President Obama. We are in the start of a new era of the National Instant Criminal Background  Check System  (NICS) checks. There have only been four presidents that have had NICS checks done while they were in office. They have been done with President Clinton, under whose...

 Chart by David Scott We do not know precisely how many private guns were added the stock in the United States under President G. W. Bush compared to those added under President Barack Obama.  We will not know the precise number until a year from now, when the BATFE releases the information. But we have a pretty good substitute.  The number of National Instant Background Check System checks, or NICS, is highly correlated to the number of private guns sold. I have been writing about NICS and the correlation with gun sales for a while. The numbers that were...

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)-Chart done by David Scott2016 has become the year with the most gun sales ever. The 2016 NICS checks have surpassed those for 2015, the previous record holder. In December, 2016 there were 2,771,159 National Instant Checks done.  In 2015, the number done in December was 3,314,594. December 2016, after the election of Donald Trump, slumped to only the third highest number of NICS checks in a month, the second highest being December, 2012, at the height of the Obama push for more infringements on the Second Amendment. There were 2,783,765 NICS done that month. December, 2016 was...

There were 2,333,539 gun-related checks processed through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, known as NICS, last month, according to FBI documents posted on Monday. That represents an increase of more than 350,000 checks over the previous October, itself a record. It’s also the 18th month in a row to set a record. With two months to go, 2016 has already seen 22,206,233 NICS checks, making it the second highest year for checks in the history of NICS with only 2015 seeing more.

October, 2016 continued the record breaking pace to become the year with the most gun sales ever. The 2016 NICS checks are far ahead of those for 2015, the previous record holder. In October 2016 there were 2,333,539 National Instant Checks done.  In 2015, the NICS done in October were 1,976,759.In 2015, the total NICS checks for the year were 23,141,970 .  In 2016, through October, they were 22,206,233.  That is less than 1 million below the total for 2015, with the two biggest months in 2016 yet to happen.  Last year there were 17,584,346 by the end of...

Map made with mapchart.net In the 1993 Brady bill, exemptions for the background checks were provided for people who had undergone the background check for state gun permits.  Not all states meet the federal requirements.  For example, the background check for the permit system must go through the National Instant Check System (NICS) and it must have been done within the last five years.  That is why most state permits are renewed every five years. From gunlaws.com: The statute provides the following exceptions to the national instant background check system: 1. The transferee presents to the licensee a permit...

In September, 2016 continued on its record breaking pace to become the year with the most gun sales ever.  September has maintained the pace from August. Both months broke records, but by a lower percentage than the rest of 2016.  The 2016 NICS checks are far ahead of those for 2015, the previous record holder. In 2015, the total NICS checks for the year were 23,141,970 .  In 2015, through September, they were 15,607,587 1,992,219 checks were done in September, 2016 making 19,872,694 checks done for 2016 so far.  2016 is about two months ahead of the 2015 record. ...

In August, 2016 continued on its record breaking pace to become the year with the most gun sales ever.  In August the pace slowed slightly, while breaking the previous record from last year.  The 2016 NICS checks are far ahead of those for 2015, the previous record holder.In 2015, the total NICS checks for the year were 23,141,970 .  In 2015, through June, the numbers were 10,466,243.  Through July, they were 12,067,075.  Through August, 2015, they were 13,812,485. 1,853,815 checks were done in August, 2016 making 17,880,475 checks done for 2016 so far.2016 is about two months ahead of...

The Federal Government spends a billion dollars a year on on federal gun laws.  Most of that money is for enforcement of federal gun laws, but some of it is to push state and local governments toward infringing on the Second Amendment. From FY 2015 Budget Fact Sheets U.S DOJ(pdf): In 2013, the Administration proposed a range of legislative remedies – along with 23 executive actions – to address mass shootings and reduce gun violence. The Justice Department is working to implement a number of these actions and requests a total of $1.1 billion in FY 2015 to address...

2016 continues on its record breaking pace to become the year with the most gun sales ever.  It is not a squeaker.  2016 pulled ahead out of the gate and has been gaining ground ever since.  The 2016 NICS checks are far ahead of those for 2015, the previous record holder. In 2015, the total NICS checks for the year were 23,141,970 .  In 2015, through June, the numbers were 10,466,243.  Through July, they were 12,067,075.  Through August, 2015, they were 13,812,485. For 2016 through June they are 13,829,491.  For July, 2016, the record numbers continue. 2,197,169 checks were...

The number of gun-related background checks performed in July far exceeded those of any previous July, newly released numbers from the FBI show. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, processed nearly 2.2 million checks last month. That represents an increase of almost 600,000 checks over the previous record set last year. It is also an increase of more than a million checks over July 2011. The July record is the latest in a string of 15 record-setting months for firearm background checks. July also saw an increase over June’s numbers as the gun industry’s seasonal lull comes...

2016 continues on its record breaking pace to become the year with the most gun sales ever.  It is not a squeaker.  2016 pulled ahead out of the gate and has been gaining ground ever since.  The 2016 NICS checks are far ahead of those for 2015, the previous record holder.In 2015, the total NICS checks for the year were 23,141,970 .  In 2015, through June, the numbers were 10,466,243.  Through July, they were 12,067,075.  Through August, 2015, they were 13,812,485. For 2016 through June they are 13,829,491. 2016 is already two months ahead of the 2015 record.  It...

2016 has been breaking records for gun sales since it began.  In fact, records were being broken seven months before 2016 began.  We only have records until the end of May, but they show a clear trend.  If that trend were followed, then 2016 would have set the record for the most American gun sales in a year, ever. But that trend just got bumped, jumped, and Trumped.  It is now taking off like Falcon SpaceX rocket.  The reason, of course, is politics. The fact is, more than half of Americans associate guns with safety.  That trend has been...

In 2016, Americans continue to break records for gun sales.  While the National Instant Check System (NICS) does not track gun sales directly, the numbers are highly correlated. The numbers of NICS checks, and the increase in private firearms, have skyrocketed during the Obama administration.The total for 2016 through the end of May is 11,698,006 instant checks. That is more than the entire year of 2007, which held the record up to that year. Thus, during the Obama years, the number of private firearm sales has doubled.  In 2015, the highest year on record, the total number of checks...

Speaking in Cleveland, Ohio, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton called for unity in the wake of the tragic shooting in Orlando. Here are key moments from that speech.

Tim Macy, Chairman of Gun Owners of America, wrote an open letter to Second Amendment supporters exposing Republican presidential candidate John Kasich’s real anti-gun agenda.Labeling Kasich the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” still in the presidential race, Macy points to Kasich’s close relationship with Leftist, Communist, billionaire George Soros. In fact, the Soros Fund Management is one of John Kasich’s top financial contributors.“This can hardly be a surprise,” Macy writes. His full letter can be read here. An abbreviated version is below.Kasich and Soros share two important traits: (1) their desire to mess up the Republican selection process for devious motives,...

Once again, Barack Obama believed that the American People were not paying attention. After all, much of what he spoke about “correcting” at his tear-stained, anti-gun press conference was already law. The women of “The View” were predictably apoplectic about automatic weapons–machine guns–and outraged that they have not been banned. This was before Sen. Rand Paul patted their hands and told them not to fear, that such automatic weapons are available to the public only after obtaining a special license from the ATF. Just another straw man propped up by our Socialist in Chief to cause the American People to...

2015 was a record year for the National Instant Checks System (NICS), and for firearm sales. The previous record year was in 2013, another year in which President Obama put considerable effort into passing strict gun control, and failed. It is one of the few policies that President Obama has not been able to use his allies in the media to ram legislation through Congress. In 2013, there were 21,093,271 background checks completed through NICS, according to the FBI.  That amounted to 16,031,210 additional private firearms added to the stocks, according to the ATF. The numbers for NICS checks...