Gun checks soar 39 percent, set new record: FBI

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Gun checks soar 39 percent, set new record: FBI

By David Ingram | Reuters – 19 hrs ago

 

 

 

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  Reuters/Reuters - A dealer displays firearms for sale at a gun show in Kansas City, Missouri December 22, 2012. REUTERS/Dave Kaup
  

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, indicating that more people may purchase one after the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data.

The FBI said it recorded 2.78 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2.01 million checks - about a 39 percent rise.

The latest monthly figure was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.86 million checks.

Consumer demand for guns appears to have accounted for the uptick in activity. There were no changes in FBI background check procedures that would have affected the December numbers, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said.

December is typically the busiest month of the year for checks, however, due in part to Christmas gift sales.

The figures do not represent the number of firearms sold, a statistic the government does not track. They also do not reflect activity between private parties, such as family members or collectors, because federal law requires background checks only for sales from commercial vendors with a federal license.

Someone who passes a background check is eligible to buy multiple firearms.

FBI checks for all of 2012 totaled 19.6 million, an annual record and an increase of 19 percent over 2011.

The FBI system - known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) - "processed transactions following normal established protocols," Fischer said in an email.

The national debate on guns has grown more intense since December 14, when Adam Lanza forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children and six adults before committing suicide in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

Lanza also killed his mother, the registered owner of the guns used in the killings, before going to the school.

SHOOTINGS LEAD TO SALES

Interest in guns tends to increase after a mass shooting, as customers fear for personal safety or worry that lawmakers might ban certain firearms.

President Barack Obama has committed to pushing new legislation, possibly including a ban on some semi-automatic weapons, this year.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for firearms-makers, estimates the size of the industry at $4 billion a year. A spokesman for the association did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Shares of gun maker Smith & Wesson Holding Corp were up 1.2 percent at $8.54 at Wednesday's close, while those of Sturm Ruger & Co Inc were up 1.1 percent at $45.88, during a broad rally in which the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.5 percent.

Neither company responded to requests for comment.

"The last eight years (have) been very good to be a handgun company. The market has expanded significantly, and long guns having done pretty good, as well," said Smith & Wesson Chief Executive James Debney at a December 12 conference for investors.

The pattern of gun sales rising after a mass shooting is disturbing, said Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a Washington group that favors gun control.

"While the majority of Americans look for solutions to stop the next attack, a minority of gun owners runs to hoard the very guns used in the most recent" incidents, Sugarmann said in an email.

Even as gun purchases rise, the share of U.S. households with a gun has been falling for decades, from 54 percent in 1977 to 32 percent in 2010, according to the University of Chicago's General Social Survey.

(Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Howard Goller and Philip Barbara)

[RecessedFilter 222]

2.75 million?! WOW.

[Zeke 5,504]

I don't buy the "House holds with guns has been falling for decades".

 

I know a lot of new household purchasers.

The record ncis ck numbers are a clear indication of something different.

[Duppie 73]

I don't buy the "House holds with guns has been falling for decades".

 

I know a lot of new household purchasers.

The record ncis ck numbers are a clear indication of something different.

I was wondering that also. How does one go about gathering such numbers and could it be that most households when asked if there is a firearm in the home say no? I know if asked the very same question I would reply in the negative considering how polarizing gun ownership can be.

[johnnyrebel70 0]

I was wondering that also. How does one go about gathering such numbers and could it be that most households when asked if there is a firearm in the home say no? I know if asked the very same question I would reply in the negative considering how polarizing gun ownership can be.

 

I would also answer No but not because I are what someone (Liberal fucktard) thinks of gun owners, I'd say No because it's no one's business what I'm into or own

[Malsua 1,422]

I was wondering that also. How does one go about gathering such numbers and could it be that most households when asked if there is a firearm in the home say no? I know if asked the very same question I would reply in the negative considering how polarizing gun ownership can be.

 

It's easy enough to explain.

 

Suppose the number of households are growing at 1% per year and the number of households with guns are growing at .5% per year, you could say that the percentage of households with guns are dropping and it would be an accurate statement. What is missed in that statement is that the aggregate number of households with guns is growing.

[millsan1 3]

I live in a building with 200 condos. When my GF went for her permit a week or two ago, the JCPD asked her "Are you guys starting a gun club down at those condos? We have processed 10+ applications from there"

 

I can only speak for myself, but the aftermath of Sandy pushed me to finally get my FID, etc.

[Rifleman1 32]

Only 85,851 in NJ this year...

 

Here are the top 5 States:

#1 - Kentucky

#2 - Texas

#3 - California

#4 - Illinois

#5 - Pennsylvania

 

http://www.fbi.gov/a...thly_totals.pdf

[Vlad G 345]

Only 85,851 in NJ this year...

 

That is 141% of 2011, 170% of 2010, 155% of 2009, 210% of 2008 and so on.

 

That's not so bad, is it?

[Rifleman1 32]

That is 141% of 2011, 170% of 2010, 155% of 2009, 210% of 2008 and so on.

 

That's not so bad, is it?

 

Percentage wise not bad. We have to get the total volume up. Kentucky is at 2.6M

[BlueLineFish 615]

 

 

Percentage wise not bad. We have to get the total volume up. Kentucky is at 2.6M

 

I'm doing my best to get the volume up

[Rifleman1 32]

Semi-auto's are getting hard to find... as is ammo.

[hd2000fxdl 422]

 

Percentage wise not bad. We have to get the total volume up. Kentucky is at 2.6M

 

Can't count KY, they don't count the same way we do. Lol

 

Actually their numbers are high because they recheck each year or something like that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[halbautomatisch 60]

Can't count KY, they don't count the same way we do. Lol

 

Actually their numbers are high because they recheck each year or something like that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

IIRC Kentucky uses NICS to check it's CCW holders EACH MONTH, which skews their NICS check records.

[hd2000fxdl 422]

Maybe that's what I remember hearing, I just knew it wasn't NICS checks for purchases.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Soju 153]

So we know around 2.7 million new guns were sold in December, and around 19.5 million in 2012. How many have been sold so far in January?

 

My guess is that it BLOWS away the record from last month already. Anybody have any numbers. I heard somewhere that it may be as much as four to five times higher. If true, to put it in perspective, that is 2/3rds of last years told in only 6% of the year...mind boggling. Now, I would say that there is no possible way that is true, but then again, you can't find any guns, ammo, or AR magazines anywhere.

 

Can someone please find out an actual estimate?

[Qel Hoth 33]

So we know around 2.7 million new guns were sold in December, and around 19.5 million in 2012. How many have been sold so far in January?

 

My guess is that it BLOWS away the record from last month already. Anybody have any numbers. I heard somewhere that it may be as much as four to five times higher. If true, to put it in perspective, that is 2/3rds of last years told in only 6% of the year...mind boggling. Now, I would say that there is no possible way that is true, but then again, you can't find any guns, ammo, or AR magazines anywhere.

 

Can someone please find out an actual estimate?

 

FBI won't release NICS info for January until a week or so into Feb.

[jamesbod 0]

why? everything is sold out...

[JustJoe 0]

OGAM ain't a limitation but a goal.

[NJCK 5]

OGAM ain't a limitation but a goal.

 

I consider it the minimum!

[BlueLineFish 615]

 

I consider it the minimum!

I take it as a challenge

[mrlew 0]

I was at Cabela's yesterday. Real slim pickings. They were sold out of most ammo except for shotgun, no 30-30, .223, .45ACP, .357 or .38. Shelves was completely empty, kinda freaky looking.

[Handyman 5,682]

IIRC Kentucky uses NICS to check it's CCW holders EACH MONTH, which skews their NICS check records.

 

How can they possibly have the manpower to run all these checks when NJ can't process an FID application in 6 months?

[njJoniGuy 2,131]

How can they possibly have the manpower to run all these checks when NJ can't process an FID application in 6 months?

They have a seventh grader come in after school to sit at a terminal and run NICS checks.