When the FBI released its latest monthly report showing raw data on the number of background checks initiated with the National Instant Check System (NICS) for August, it provided strong evidence Americans are still strong proponents of the Second Amendment.
The raw numbers—2,518,137 for the month of August—do not represent completed firearms transactions, as even the FBI acknowledges. Last month showed the second-highest number of initiated NICS checks for the month of August since the system went online in 1998.
For a more realistic estimate of actual gun sales for the month, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Mark Oliva provides a monthly NSSF-adjusted NICS figure, and for August, it was 1,286,816, which still is a lot of firearms sold. It’s not unusual, of course, with hunting seasons just around the corner (dove hunting opened over much of the West on Sept. 1), but increasing numbers of Americans are buying guns, and personal protection still remains a top reason.
For the first eight months of this year, there were 20,790,489 NICS checks initiated, according to the FBI.
Via email, Oliva said last month’s adjusted number represents a 3.1 percent decrease from August 2021 in terms of estimated gun sales. It’s also a 9.1 percent decrease from the raw numbers, he added.
In July, according to FBI/NICS data, there were 2,404,335 NICS checks initiated, while June saw 2,570,608 calls for background checks. It all translates to continued strong interest in the individual right to keep and bear arms.
As noted by Oliva, “August’s figures show there is a clear and steady desire by the American public for lawful firearm ownership. Consistently throughout the year, background check figures for firearm sales at retail have put 2022 on pace to be the third strongest year, behind only the outsized years witnessed in 2020 and 2021.
“August’s figures of 1,286,816 background checks was slightly ahead of July’s that came in at 1,233,115,” he continued. “This also marks 37 months straight of background checks exceeding 1 million. Americans are choosing their gun rights by the millions each month while gun control politicians talk only of efforts to deprive them of their Constitutional rights. They are voting with their wallets. “Politicians would be wise to heed to will of Americans lawfully exercising their Constitutional rights and instead focus their efforts on locking up criminals that misuse firearms,” he said via email.
In 2020, the year which saw massive civil unrest and violent protests in many cities, FBI raw data shows there were 39,695,315 initiated NICS checks. Even if only half of those checks reflected a retail gun sale, that’s 19,697,807 guns sold in that year, and it doesn’t include sales of firearms in private transactions.
