So much for the “Trump Slump”—the media-manufactured predicted slowdown in gun sales that was supposed to occur once Donald Trump was inaugurated. In May, the FBI processed more than 2 million National Instant Criminal Background System (NICS) requests, an indicator of gun sales.
That was a record for the month of May and it marks the third straight monthly record of NICS checks. The previous high for May checks came in 2017, when 1,94 million checks were conducted.
The surge in interest in purchasing firearms comes as gun control talk has dominated in many parts of the country After the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Fla., various states and some municipalities have talked up the prospect of more restrictions on law-abiding citizens who want to exercise their Second Amendment right. Florida and Vermont, two longtime backers of gun rights, passed measures that call for more gun control, but those laws are being challenged legally.
One of the beneficiaries of the current climate is the sale of AR-platform rifles. The semi-automatic rifle class, long a favorite among sport shooters, has come under scrutiny after that type of rifle was used in the Florida school shooting. Sales of such semi-automatics have risen across the board, if Bud’s Gun Shop’s figures hold as a national representation. “"Sales of semi-auto rifles, especially AR and AK platforms, have more than doubled in sales since the Florida shooting and subsequent media coverage of possible pending legislation," Rex McClanahan, the online store’s owner, told a reporter for The Washington Free Beacon.
