Last year saw more than 21 million background checks conducted for the purchase of a firearm, a record-shattering number, and at the current rate 2021 is on, that number looks like it could be broken again.
With more than 1.3 million background checks conducted for firearms purchases through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in May, according to new data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the current number of checks for the year sits beyond 8.5 million. At this same point last year, that number was just north of 8.1 million.
“These figures are hardly surprising to the firearm industry, which is battling against the Biden administration’s attacks on gun rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Mark Oliva, NSSF director of public affairs.
The NSSF-adjusted figures are calculated by subtracting those checks unlikely to be used for the purchase of a firearm from the total number of checks conducted through the FBI’s NICS system.
It’s clear that Americans, as they have done for the past year and a half, are voting with their wallets. An aggressively anti-Second Amendment administration is currently in power, and President Joe Biden’s (D) nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), David Chipman, was recently called an “enemy of the Second Amendment” by dozens of Republicans in Congress.
Chipman’s recent Senate confirmation hearing further displayed his radicalism, including his complete unwillingness to try to explain what a so-called “assault weapon” even is; he doesn’t seem to know how to define one, or care to admit how expansive his definition would be, despite the fact that he is arguing these popular firearms should be banned.
Of course, Biden has also repeatedly lobbed some incredible lies about our right to keep and bear arms. Whether he is saying that his plans don’t “impinge on the Second Amendment,” or claiming that firearms manufacturers have special immunity, one thing is clear, his anti-gun agenda is arguably the most-radical America has ever seen.
With all of these things going on, it’s easy to see why more and more Americans are continuing to exercise their constitutional rights.
