For the 17th time in a row, the record for the amount of background checks conducted by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in a single month has been broken. Additionally, the FBI stated in their report that there was a 32 percent increase in background checks during the first half of 2016 compared to the same time period in 2015.
Because gun sales generally spike during the Black Friday and December holidays, it’s probable to infer that this increase in both background checks and firearm sales will continue through the remainder of this calendar year. The most notable fact related to this trend, however, is that while background checks and gun sales have gone up in 2016, the violent crime rate in the U.S. has not.
The NRA-ILA has some additional input on this:
“Yet, as gun sales trend upwards, there is no corresponding increase in violent crime rates, and the number of unintentional firearm-related fatalities continues to decrease, declining by more than 60 percent since 1993…
“It’s no wonder, then, that a substantial percentage of the American public agrees that increased gun ownership is more likely to increase public safety than lead to more crime.”
To read more on this topic and other important 2nd Amendment-related issues visit nraila.org.
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