Black Friday saw over 186,000 background checks conducted for the purchase of firearms, the fourth highest single-day total in history. The entire holiday weekend saw more than 417,000 checks, according to new data from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
Though Black Friday 2019 saw more checks conducted on that day alone, 2020’s holiday weekend exceeded the prior year’s by roughly 15,000 background checks processed through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for the purchases of firearms. Following the holiday weekend, Cyber Monday had an additional 124,000 checks.
November background checks are in line with what we’ve seen all year long. Americans continue to purchase firearms at record pace for a variety of reasons, including concerns for personal safety and onerous gun-control plans possibly coming from a presumed Biden-Harris administration.
Adding to these already impressive figures, over 1.3 million checks were conducted throughout the month of November. This brings the annual total up to over 19.1 million, further shattering the previous 15.7-million record set in 2016—all with one month remaining in the year. (To calculate these figures, the NSSF factors out background checks unlikely to be used in the purchase of a firearm to better reflect the number of gun sales.)
Month after month, Americans are continuing to exercise their Second Amendment rights in absolutely astonishing numbers. The potential of an incoming Biden-Harris administration is a looming threat to our right to keep and bear arms. The laundry list of anti-Second Amendment proposals Biden has given us has undoubtedly contributed to the increase in gun sales and ownership.
With one month to go, 2020’s record number of background checks will continue to grow and, at this rate, is likely to eclipse 20 million on the year!
