#gun #sales #fear #VirusCasedemic #FBI
US gun sales in the 1st 3 months of Y 2021 surged 31% to 15,966,389. This makes it among the largest figures since sales started to be recorded in Y 1998.
The increase is part of a trend.
Gun sales in the US rose 40% last year to 39,695,315. That represents the high water mark in annual gun sales since the current record-keeping system went into effect.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tracks gun sales and publishes a list of how many are handled as part of its National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Each month, the figures are reported by state.
Nearly everyone put through this system qualifies as a buyer. People who are excluded usually have criminal records. Of the more than 310-M checks that have been done since Y 1998, there have only been 1.5-M denials. Therefore, the data is the best proxy for US gun sales available.
Growing civil unrest may have prompted people to buy guns for personal and family protection, although this remains a matter of debate. Another theory is that chaos brought on by the VirusCasedemic is a major cause.
A new UC Davis School of Medicine study about fear of violence reports: “The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated persistent structural, economic, and social inequities in the conditions that contribute to violence and its consequences.”
The increases should not be taken as unusual, nor should the rise in gun sales from Ys 2019 to 2020 be viewed as an anomaly.
The number of gun sales has increased most yrs since Y 1999. Sales 1st topped 25-M in Y 2016. In Y 1999, the 1st full yr the FBI kept data, sales totaled 9,138,123.
The state with the most gun sales YTD is Illinois at 4,287,494. The state has only 4% of the population but accounted for 27% of gun sales for the frame. In 2nd place, there were 1,169,179 sales in Kentucky in the 1st 4 months of Y 2021. That is over 7% of the guns sold nationwide, even though the state has only 1.3% of the US population.
Have a healthy day, Keep the Faith!
