NICS Background Checks Down 555,608 During January 2018
Kevin Felts 02.06.18
During January of 2018, background checks ran through National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) decreased by 555,608. The number can be verified at this link – FBI Document NICS background checks.
What does this mean? It means a lot less guns were sold through licensed dealers in January than in December. December 2017 was a bumper month for the firearm industry.
- November 2017: 2,382,788 background check. Black Friday set a record for the number of checks processed. Three gun sales per second were processed on Black Friday.
- December 2017: 2,586,138 background checks.
- January 2018: 2,030,530 background checks.
What is the importance of background checks? This is all we have to estimate how many guns were sold through licensed dealers during a given time period.
However, in most states private sales are not processed through NICS. Also in some areas, people who have a concealed carry permit do not have to go through NICS.
Trends
After Donald Trump was elected President gun sales took a nose dive. Things were so bad it was given a name: “The Great Trump Slump.” Around July of 2017 sales seem to stabilize.
Except for November and December of 2017, sales seemed to have remained steady from August 2017 – January 2018.
Chances are by the time mid-2018 rolls around, and people start thinking about the midterm elections, we may see a spike in guns sales. This is purely speculation, but if it looks like Democrats will take control of congress, we may see a surge in panic buying.
Then again, gun owners can rest assured President Trump will not sign any new gun laws passed by a Democrat controlled congress.
