Gun sales have increased 95% while ammunition sales have exploded 139% compared to the same period last year, according to a new survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).
Retailers nationwide reported a record 10.3 million firearm transactions in the first half of 2020, with 87% reporting an increase in firearm sales and approximately 92% reporting an increase in ammunition sales, the NSSF survey revealed.
The most interesting statistic from the NSSF survey, in my opinion, is this: 40% of those purchasing firearms this year were FIRST-TIME buyers.
The survey noted that the demographics of customers who purchased guns and ammo consisted of 55.8% White males, 16.6% White females, 9.3% Black males, 5.4% Black females, 6.9% Hispanic males, 2.2% Hispanic females, 3.1% Asian males and 0.7% Asian females.
The highest overall firearm sales increase (in percentage terms) came from Black men and women who had a 58.2% increase in purchases during the first six months of 2020 versus the same period last year, according to the NSSF survey.
White men and women had the second largest firearm sales increase at 51.9%, followed by Hispanic men and women at 49.4% and Asian men and women at 42.9%. These new figures confirm this mad rush for guns stretches across all racial lines and genders.
“Bottom line is that there has never been a sustained surge in firearm sales quite like what we are in the midst of,” said Jim Curcuruto, Director of Research for the NSSF.
The NSSF notes that gun sales tend to rise somewhat in presidential election years, but nothing remotely like this year — in part because some people worry the incoming president would implement new gun control laws.
Such fears may be well-founded this year since both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris favor new gun control laws. In Ms. Harris’ case, she advocated openly for gun confiscation (mandatory “buy-back program) as recently as last September on the Jimmy Fallon late-night program.
The latest NSSF findings come as civil unrest continues across the country sparked by the death of George Floyd, who was killed in Minneapolis while in police custody on May 25, and as violent crime has been on the rise in recent weeks in cities across the United States.
“Civil unrest, rioting, looting and calls to defund police are unquestionably motivating factors of why this trend is increasing. Americans are right to be concerned for their personal safety,” said Mark Oliva, Director of Public Affairs for the NSSF
According to the New York City Police Department, there was a 130% increase in the number of shooting incidents across the city in June, while the homicide rate is up 23% for the first half of 2020 compared to the previous year.
In Chicago, homicides jumped 39% from the last week of June to the first week of July compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the homicide rate in Los Angeles has seen a double-digit rise over the past two months.
The news on gun sales also comes as the coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 5 million Americans, according to the latest update from Johns Hopkins University. While most of those infected have recovered, there have been more than 170,000 deaths in the United States.
Firearm-related background checks reached 3.9 million in June alone, the most in any single month since the tracking system was created more than two decades ago. This amid multiple crises in the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downfall and protests over police brutality and racial injustice.
Gun sales started soaring in March as governments across the United States began issuing stay-at-home orders and other unprecedented lockdown measures as the coronavirus took a grip across the country.
Long lines were seen outside of many gun shops in the days following the government mandates and business closures — and gun shop owners had difficulty keeping their shelves stocked with firearms and ammunition.
The bottom line is, I believe it’s safe to assume that demand for guns will continue to rise in the months ahead, especially if the violent riots and nightly looting continue in our major cities. And if the current wrong-headed trend toward defunding the police continues.
Of course, if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris succeed in their quest to unseat President Trump in November. In that case, it’s entirely feasible that gun and ammo sales could go even higher just after the election – especially if their leftist views on gun control are exposed in the debates, as well they should be.
This assumes, of course, that there are debates. It’s clear Mr. Biden and his handlers would like to avoid them. But that’s another discussion for another time.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.