With violent and random crime on the rise, it should hardly be a shocking statistic that more of us choose to be prepared. Last week the agency reported that background checks for January and February approached record numbers.
The U.S. has now logged 41 straight months with 2 million or more background checks conducted.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) recorded over 1.3 million firearms sales for February alone. Spokesman Mark Oliva declared the data “demonstrative of a steady appetite for Americans from all walks of life exercising their Second Amendment right to lawful firearm ownership.”
As for those who wrongly charge that guns feed the violent crime wave, Oliva strongly disagrees.
“Figures like these, month after month, show us that Americans reject that rhetoric and are choosing to protect themselves and participate in the rich heritage of the shooting sports.”
Oliva noted that certain grandstanding politicians should take heed of the numbers that clearly show the sentiment of the American public. They would be better served, he said, by “focusing on reducing crime, holding criminals accountable, and making their communities safer.”
Instead, these so-called “leaders” work diligently to throw up roadblocks to exercising Second Amendment rights and denying these liberties to those who obey the law.
January also saw over-the-counter gun sales surpass 1 million for the 42nd month in a row. Furthermore, unadjusted figures for January show 2,612,736 background checks were conducted by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
When the NSSF adjusted the numbers by removing gun permit checks and rechecks, the new figure is 1,268,236. That impressive haul represents a 6.5% increase compared to Jan. 2022’s NSSF tally.
The actual total, of course, is higher. The NICS data does not include private gun sales in most states or instances when a carry permit was substituted for background checks requirements of the Brady Law. This permits the transfer of a weapon over the counter by a federal firearm license holder and does not require the NICS check.
Industry representatives point towards people who look to defend themselves for the prolonged surge in gun sales.
This news is apparently lost on the White House and certain members of Congress. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) appears intent on sidestepping Congress and the courts and implementing firearm bans regardless of its legality.
President Joe Biden just last week reiterated his pledge to ban so-called “assault weapons” come “hell or high water.” That is highly unlikely to succeed as the House will not approve such a move and the Senate is doubtful.
Still, having this narrative floating around Washington does nothing to ease the worries of shooting enthusiasts who fear the federal government is targeting their constitutional rights. Each and every one of us should be thankful for the existence of the Second Amendment and its clear intent.
Without it and recent resounding decisions handed down by the Supreme Court, it is doubtless that the right to keep and bear arms would be greatly infringed upon — if not outright eliminated. The figures showing Americans’ enthusiasm for keeping firearms might not be enough to turn the tide against those who would rip this right away.
But the Second Amendment is still in the Bill of Rights, and thanks to the foresight of the Founding Fathers, it protects what so many wish to destroy.
Now and in the foreseeable future, millions of Americans may continue to exercise the liberties handed down to us by previous generations. But it is up to us to safeguard these rights so that future generations may reap the same blessings.
