Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Unprecedented Numbers Exercise 2A Rights in 2020

Monday, January 11, 2021

Unprecedented Numbers Exercise 2A Rights in 2020

Millions of Americans exercised their Second Amendment rights for the first time in 2020. And, it’s easy to understand why.

Bare shelves at local grocery stores fueled fears that the breakdown in supply chains would lead to a breakdown in our social order. Inmates released early to stem the spread of the virus within prisons and rising unemployment led to fears of a crime wave. Americans watching this unfold in real time realized that they may be able to rely on only themselves. 

Americans didn’t wait for tragedy; they acted to make sure they were not part of the tragic tale of 2020. They applied for permits to obtain or carry a firearm. They purchased handguns and long guns at a rate no one could have imagined, and did so at a time when some states were trying to shut down permit offices and gun shops. The spike in demand led to inventory shortages that likely reduced sales.  

The FBI conducted 39,695,315 total NICS background checks last year. That is the annual record, beating the year 2019 by more than 11.3 million background checks.

The difference in background checks between 2020 and 2019 was more than the number of checks run in any of the first nine years NICS existed. This record was expected given what we saw all year: month after month of record-setting numbers. March was the busiest month ever for the NICS office, until June reset the record. June only held the record until December.

There were 3,937,066 total NICS checks run last month. The number of NICS checks had broken three million in a single month a single time before 2020. It happened eight times last year. Those eight months were among the nine busiest months ever. Nine individual weeks in 2020 rate among the ten highest weeks of all-time, including two weeks in December (third and sixth all-time). That list includes every full week in June, and two consecutive weeks in November.

We know from retailer reports that about 40% of buyers were first-time gun buyers, and that there were significant increases in the percentage and number of female and minority gun buyers. Forty-percent of those first-time gun buyers were women. The 2nd Amendment is not bound by race, gender, or socio-economic status.

It is about giving Americans a fighting chance to defend themselves and their families. 

Millions of Americans gave themselves that chance last year. A significant majority of those purchasing handguns, shotguns, or semi-automatic rifles indicated they were doing so to protect themselves. The FBI ran 11,897,521 handgun-related NICS checks last year and 7,132,864 checks related to long guns. Both are records; those numbers represent a 47% increase in the number of handgun-related checks and about a 0.1% increase in the number of long-gun related checks.

This reality is something no ivory tower academic would have ever predicted. Gun controllers, desperate for attention during 2020, tried to make every crisis about so-called gun violence while running away from the issue during the election.  Maybe they got the hint after months of record-setting background check numbers, but elitist gun controllers have already shown how far they’ll go to create a false narrative about the gun buyers of 2020. They’ve been working behind the scenes to advance their agenda without legislative input, and you can expect that strategy to continue under the next administration.

Those who write for academic journals, magazines, and textbooks will focus considerable energy to the issues and impact of 2020, and they’ll be encouraged to overlook or downplay the significance of the gun-buying surge of 2020. You can expect gun grabbers holding political office and professional anti-gun activists to try to control the narrative.  

You can also expect the NRA to continue our mission of safeguarding the fundamental right of every American to defend themselves and their families. 

We – through the will of our members and supporters – have been doing it for 150 years.

IN THIS ARTICLE
Background Checks/NICS
TRENDING NOW
Kamala Harris is an Existential Threat to the Second Amendment and Supports Gun Confiscation

News  

Monday, July 29, 2024

Kamala Harris is an Existential Threat to the Second Amendment and Supports Gun Confiscation

Since President Joe Biden unceremoniously dropped out, or was forced out, of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris has been effectively coronated as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Kamala for Gun Confiscation: In Her Own Words

News  

Monday, September 16, 2024

Kamala for Gun Confiscation: In Her Own Words

During the September 10 presidential debate, President Donald Trump correctly highlighted Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s support for gun confiscation. A visibly defensive Harris claimed, “We're not taking anybody's guns away. So stop with the ...

Florida: Vote "YES" on Amendment 2 - Protect the Right to Fish & Hunt

Monday, October 21, 2024

Florida: Vote "YES" on Amendment 2 - Protect the Right to Fish & Hunt

The upcoming 2024 General Election puts forth a proposal to Florida voters on the ballot to amend the State Constitution to affirm and protect Floridians' Right to Fish and Hunt. Amendment 2 states:

Kamala’s Big Problem: She’s Already Shown Us Who She Is

News  

Monday, October 28, 2024

Kamala’s Big Problem: She’s Already Shown Us Who She Is

At a town hall event on October 21 in Royal Oak, Michigan, Democrat presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris was asked how she would make “impactful and immediate progress around gun violence” if she was ...

Kamala Harris is an Existential Threat to the Second Amendment and Supports Gun Confiscation

News  

Monday, July 29, 2024

Kamala Harris is an Existential Threat to the Second Amendment and Supports Gun Confiscation

Since President Joe Biden unceremoniously dropped out, or was forced out, of the 2024 presidential race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris has been effectively coronated as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Kamala Harris’ Record on Gun Control and Second Amendment

News  

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Kamala Harris’ Record on Gun Control and Second Amendment

Vice President Kamala Harris has consistently campaigned for draconian gun control laws, which severely limit the rights of lawful gun owners.

NRA’s Political Victory Fund Endorses President Donald J. Trump

News  

Saturday, May 18, 2024

NRA’s Political Victory Fund Endorses President Donald J. Trump

Today, the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is honored to announce its full endorsement of President Donald J. Trump for re-election to a second term as President of the United States of America. ...

Tim Walz Hunts for Voters in Outdoor Photo Op

News  

Monday, October 21, 2024

Tim Walz Hunts for Voters in Outdoor Photo Op

History shows, when anti-gun politicians take to the field, gun owners have good reason to be concerned.

Michigan: Governor Whitmer Signs Bill Funding Tipline to Turn in Gun Owners

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Michigan: Governor Whitmer Signs Bill Funding Tipline to Turn in Gun Owners

Today, Governor Whitmer signed House Bill 5503. Originally a bill providing critical funding for Michigan schools, it was politicized with an amendment to create an anonymous tipline for the purpose of reporting the "unsafe" storage of firearms. The ...

Government Gaslighting: The FBI’s Crime Data Revisions

News  

Monday, October 21, 2024

Government Gaslighting: The FBI’s Crime Data Revisions

During the September 10 debate between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, ABC News moderator David Muir purported to “fact-check” Trump’s statement that “crime in this country is through the roof,” with the contradiction ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.