April 2024 marked the 57th month in a row that more than 1 million firearms purchased in the United States resulted in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) processing a National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS) check. The news wasn’t all good, though. The final figure came in at roughly 1,216,116 million, roughly 200,000 less than the 1,369,296 reported in April 2023. It represents an 11.2 percent decline.
March estimates by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) were also down compared to last year. Sales cleared through the FBI NICS system that month came to 1,442,061. During the same period in 2023 that figure was 1,556,492, reflecting a 7.4 percent, year-over-year decrease.
Maintaining the seven-figure streak still sends a strong message to the White House, according to Mark Olive, NSSF managing director for public affairs. “Over 1.2 million Americans showed President Biden exactly where they are when it comes to his promises of increased gun control should he be elected for another term,” he said. “President Biden has used every tool at his disposal to attack the firearm industry, from publishing Constitutionally dubious and overreaching administrative rules that bypass Congress to create criminal law to weaponizing the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to throttle firearm and ammunition manufacturers and exporters.”
There’s also no doubt any estimate based entirely on NICS volume is low. Twenty-four states have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows a valid permit-holder to purchase a firearm from a Federal Firearm Licensee without undergoing a redundant NICS check. NICS checks in those states do not include those legal transfers based on qualifying permits, and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.
“Americans reject these misdirected and politically motivated maneuvers to infringe on their Second Amendment freedoms and punish the industry that makes it possible to exercise the rights to keep and bear arms,” Oliva added. “By the millions, for 57 months straight, Americans choose to lawfully purchase, keep and use the firearms of their choosing.”
