The current demand for guns in America is so great that the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS) is giving a higher number of delays and, in many cases, allowing the sale to be completed because time for the check expires.
A NICS check is designed to take only minutes, ideally being “instant.” However, there are cases where the FBI reviewers do not immediately find the records they need so they have an option to delay the check, giving reviewers three business days to complete it. If, after three days, they still have not found incriminating records on the would-be buyer, the sale is allowed to proceed.
This means there are three possible outcomes to an NICS check: 1. Pass (good to go). 2. Delay (three business days added for check). 3. Fail (can either occur instantly or during the three day extended review).
Reuters reported there was a “54 percent increase in the number of background checks that were delayed past three days in … March through July.” And over five percent of those delays lasted longer than three days.
Overall, the number of NICS checks conducted March 2020 through July 2020 was up 93 percent, when compared to the same time period in 2019. (Read more from “Demand for Guns Overwhelming FBI Background Check System” HERE)
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is reporting background checks are up 300 percent over where they were at this same time last year.
Mark Oliva, NSSF Public Affairs director, told Breitbart News, “FBI NICS informed NSSF that on Monday, March 16, 2020, volume for background checks was 300 percent higher than it was on March 16, 2019.”
Oliva added, “Since Feb. 23, background checks have been roughly double every day what they were this time last year.” . . .
Brown said, “We’ve seen increases in firearm purchases in response to uncertain or worrisome current events in the past. Unfortunately, we know that not only do more guns not make you safer, but that the opposite is true.”
She added, “Unsafe storage practices correlate to unintentional shootings in the home, what we call ‘Family Fire.’ Everyday, approximately eight children and teens die from these preventable Family Fire incidents.” (Read more from “Background Checks Surge 300 Percent as Americans Flood Gun Stores” HERE)
Gun sales are up across St. Louis since the shooting of Michael Brown and subsequent nights of violence.
Sales have quadrupled at ‘Metro Shooting’ in Bridgeton according to owner Steven King. He says sales have mainly been to men, but not all:
“Probably a dozen or two dozen guns to females, single mothers. We’ve sold to black people, white people. We’ve sold to asians who have businesses on West Florissant.” said King. “They’re just afraid of whats going on and they’re coming in to purchase either additional firearms or their first firearm.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-08-13 03:27:152014-08-13 03:27:15Gun Sales Up Across Area
Photo Credit: Getty ImagesFor nearly three years, federally-licensed firearms dealers (“FFLs”) in southern border states have been badgered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) to report sales of two or more rifles to the same person during any consecutive five-day period. Purporting to need this information to stop arms trafficking in and out of Mexico, ATF issued so-called “demand letters” to require indefinite reporting of multiple rifle sales by thousands of dealers, treating the independent FFL businessmen as though they were government employees.
ATF has no authority to require these reports. Although the Gun Control Act of 1968 authorizes ATF to issue demand letters, these were to be issued only when ATF is investigating certain specific buyers or specific FFLs, and this is how they were used for many years. They were not designed to impose a new permanent reporting requirement on dealers.
Moreover, in the Gun Control Act, Congress decided to require reporting only of multiple handgun sales, but not rifle sales. However, instead of taking its case to Congress to change the law and enact legislation requiring reporting on rifle sales, ATF took the law into its own hands.
In 2010, alleging that many of the guns sold by FFLs in the border states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California were being seized in Mexico, ATF required that every FFL in the border states report all multiple sales of rifles. ATF was challenged on this in court, but the courts sided with the ATF.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-06-28 03:24:572016-04-11 11:08:04ATF Backs Down on Gun Sale Reports
Photo Credit: Tim Boyle/BloombergU.S. gun makers led by Sturm Ruger & Co. and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (SWHC) churned out a record number of firearms in 2012, government data show, continuing a trend of robust production during Democratic presidencies.
More than 8.57 million guns were produced in 2012, up 31 percent from 6.54 million in 2011, according to data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which has been tracking the statistics since 1986.
Almost as many guns — 26.1 million — were produced during Democrat Barack Obama’s first term as president as during the entire eight-year presidency of his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, the ATF data show.
Advocates on both sides of the gun-control debate said manufacturers were meeting demand fueled by concerns among gun owners that Democratic presidents are more willing to limit firearms sales than Republicans. After years of steering clear of the issue, Obama pressed unsuccessfully last year for stricter gun measures in the wake of the 2012 massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
The production boom has resulted in strong sales and profits for gun companies, including Sturm & Ruger and Smith & Wesson.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-02-22 00:40:272016-04-11 11:11:43Obama Presidency Spurs Record Gun Production
Gun records checks, fueled by a post-Newtown boom of gun sales, hit a new high in 2013, and industry analysts expect ammunition to be the big seller this year as consumers catch up to all of those firearms purchases.
More than 21 million applications were run through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System last year, marking nearly an 8 percent increase and the 11th straight year that the number has risen.
Background checks serve as a proxy for the number of gun sales, which soared in the months immediately after the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. But NICS checks plummeted in November and December compared with a year earlier, suggesting that the boom may be over.
“2013 was the best year for firearm sales (commercial, domestic) in history — period! That’s true for NH to Hawaii,” said Richard Feldman, president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association in Rindge, N.H. “Ruger alone sold well over one million guns this year.”
Mr. Feldman said to expect the next surge to be in bullets.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2014-01-08 00:28:142014-01-08 00:28:14Gun Sales Hit New Record, Ammo Boom to Follow (+video)
Photo Credit: APNothing like chiming in the Christmas season with a new gun. That’s the message advertisers are blasting out, with deals that promise purchasers savings in the double-digit range.
Post-Thanksgiving gun buys have become a holiday tradition for America, The Huffington Post reported. In the past two years, the FBI has been besieged by applications for gun purchases made on Black Friday.
In 2012, the FBI took in 154,873 background check calls on Black Friday — a record-setting level three times what the agency fielded on any given day that year. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System couldn’t handle the volume, and some data centers crashed, The Huffington Post reported.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-11-30 00:51:302016-04-11 11:13:24Black Friday Gun Sales Set All-Time Record, By a Long Shot
A Tucson gun store owner has decided to rescind the sale of a military-style rifle to Mark Kelly, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, after Kelly said he had intended the purchase to make a political point about how easy it is to obtain the kind of firearms he’s lobbying Congress to ban.
A background check took only a matter of minutes to complete, Kelly said in the Facebook post, adding that it’s scary to think people can buy similar guns without background checks at gun shows or on the Internet.
But Kelly couldn’t immediately take possession of the rifle because the shop had bought it from a customer. As a result, the store is required by a Tucson ordinance to hold the gun for 20 days to give the city enough time to make sure the weapon wasn’t used in a crime.
Store owner Doug MacKinlay said Monday in a Facebook post of his own that he “determined that was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-03-26 02:01:302013-03-26 02:01:30Gun Store Rescinds Mark Kelly’s Rifle Purchase, Questions His ‘Intent’
More and more people continue to buy guns in Hawaii and this weekend’s gun show at the Blaisdell was packed. Business at this weekend’s gun show is booming.
“A lot more women a lot more families, it’s not just a man thing anymore,” says Sheldon Tyau, Event Coordinator. Organizers say it’s the largest crowd they’ve seen in the show’s 35 year history.
The longest line was for ammo.
“It’s really difficult to get ammo at a good price right now, if you can find it,” says Doug Moose, Mililani resident.
“Alot of it’s getting scarce on the mainland, so a lot of people want to make sure they get extra ammo,” says Tyau.
Sadly, the myth that women are somehow less able or too weak to shoot a powerful handgun exists; it exists in gun stores, on the web or anywhere a woman might go to purchase a firearm. I was at a gun show recently and approached one of the vendors to look at the guns he had for sale. The first thing he said to me was “so, you are looking for a smaller, lower caliber handgun that you can handle, right?” I gave him a “look” maybe “stare” is a better word, and walked away.. What we WANT is a gun that will do what a gun needs to do….stop an attacker in his tracks. The best size and caliber of that gun depends on the same factors it would for a man looking for a gun for self protection. Most agree that a small caliber handgun like a .22 revolver or a .25 or .32 caliber automatic just isn’t powerful enough to stop a 250lb attacker, who might be high on drugs, which makes it less of a deterrent or even worse, make him even angrier. So a larger caliber gun is really more of a necessity than of choice.
So what type of handgun is best for self defense? There are two choices, a revolver or a semiautomatic pistol. Your decision will be based on your specific and unique needs, physical traits and your likes and dislikes.
Revolvers and semi-automatic pistols each have their own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. The one best for you will be based on how you prioritize or rank these advantages and disadvantages. The size of your firearm must be considered if you plan on concealed carry. It has been shown that the smaller the gun, the harder it is to grab away from you, but you want the accuracy and power necessary to stop an attacker. Hand strength and your tolerance for recoil are other issues to consider. There are smaller barreled options in both revolvers and semiautomatic pistols available in the recommended self defense calibers.
For some reason many people recommend that a woman start off with a revolver and then “grow into” an automatic. This is illogical and you should resist the urge to accept this chauvinistic advice. A beginner is a beginner and there is no reason you cannot learn to shoot a semi-automatic pistol as easily as a revolver. I believe this logic is sadly based simply on the fact that semi-automatic pistols are a more complex machine and that somehow women are not comfortable with complex machines. Of course, I have no comment! If you feel that a semi-automatic pistol is your choice for personal defense then go for it! If you like the simplicity of a revolver, then that is the right choice for you. I personally chose a semi-automatic pistol as my first gun.
I am a FIRM believer that each woman should choose their own gun. Just like a pair of good shoes – feel, fit and wearability are things that only you can know. You wouldn’t have your husband or boyfriend choose and buy a special pair of shoes would you? If possible get to a range that rents firearms and get a chance to hold, feel and fire different models.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2013-03-13 02:51:432013-03-13 02:51:43What Kind of Gun For A Woman (+video)
