Biden stimulus checks spark historic surge in gun sales, especially AR-15s

Paul Bedard reporting for Washington Examiner

For the second time in three months, the FBI broke its record for gun sales, concealed carry, and other firearms background checks in March.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System conducted 4,691,738 checks, an all-time high. It broke the record set in January of 4,317,804.

Gun sales generally track with the NICS numbers, though the FBI doesn’t make public how many were for gun purchases. Gun industry groups typically release those numbers after the FBI.

After the FBI release, for example, Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting reported that sales are set to break the yearly record of 22.8 million in 2021. “For the first quarter of 2021 as a whole, about 5.9 million firearms were sold as opposed to 5.2 million in the first quarter of 2020. If this rate of sales were to be sustained throughout 2021, last year’s record sales of 22.8 million would be broken,” they said.

Gun sellers have said that President Joe Biden’s threat to use executive action to expand background check requirements and possibly ban the sale of semi-automatic firearms like the popular AR-15 is driving sales. House and Senate Democrats are also pushing anti-gun legislation, especially in the wake of two mass shootings last month.

Source: FBI

And some said that it appears people are using the Biden-pushed COVID-19 stimulus checks to purchase weapons.

“Our sales are already well ahead of last March,” said Justin Anderson, the marketing director of Charlotte, North Carolina’s Hyatt Guns, who helps Secrets keep tabs on gun trends.

“There are obvious factors at play here: Biden’s gun rhetoric being No. 1, as well as two mass shootings that were heavily covered in the media. However, we also saw a lot of transactions of around $1,400 starting on March 17, so it appears many people are using their stimulus money to buy guns,” he said.

Anderson added, “I think it's ironic that a Democrat Party-led Congress and a Democrat president passed legislation to give people financial relief, and a significant amount is being spent on gun purchases, many of which are for AR-15s!”

Gun sales have repeatedly hit records over the past year as more people grow concerned about their safety and the availability of firearms. It has been fueled by new gun owners and minorities, especially women and black people.