March 2013 FBI NICS checks show 27% increase over 2012.

[GreenStormCloud]

Last edited Wed Apr 10, 2013, 10:30 AM - Edit history (1)

Year------March--------Annual
1999 - 753,083------9,138,123
2000 - 736,543------8,543,037
2001 - 729,532------8,910,191
2002 - 714,665------8,454,322
2003 - 736,864------8,481,588
2004 - 738,298------8,687,671
2005 - 768,290------8,952,945
2006 - 845,219-----10,036,933
2007 - 975,806-----11,177,335
2008 - 1,040,863---12,709,023
2009 - 1,345,096---14,033,824
2010 - 1,300,100---14,409,616
2011 - 1,449,724---16,454,951
2012 - 1,727,881---19,592,303
2013 - 2,209,407

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/nics/reports/total-nics-background-checks-1998_2013_monthly_yearly_totals-033113.pdf

Gun sales are about level until 2006, then they start taking off. Looking at the monthly breakdowns, in 2005 gun sales were fairly level compared to the previous year, until November when they start to climb. The gun sales curve has grown stronger since then. Since 2010 guns sales have exploded, and this year has a strong start to breaking last year's record.

That is a LOT of people paying money to own guns. NICS is not able to include private sales and has no way to tell who are first-time gun buyers and who are adding to the guns they already own.

[slackmaster]

1. NICS does include private sales in some populous states, for example California.

Just a data point.

[oneshooter]

8. Don't forget to include those with CHL's in Texas

and several other states that are not required to call in to NCIS.

[slackmaster]

9. Yes, and most purchases by licensed collectors nationwide.

It's an incomplete measure by any measure.

[bubbayugga]

2. You won't be able to walk down the street without tripping over an assault rifle

by the time you guys get done banning them. Keep up the good work.

[rdharma]

3. The herrp derrps prepping for the "black helicopters"! nt

[Lurks Often]

4. Interesting, given that Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005,

I wonder if seeing the failure of law enforcement to be present to prevent the looting and crime caused people to realize that they needed to be able to fend for themselves.

I had a number of relatives inquire about getting a shotgun for their homes after Hurricane Sandy left NY & NJ a mess.

[slackmaster]

5. It's good that people are getting their backgrounds checked

[DonP]

6. 250,000 new FOID cards issued in Illinois since November of 2012

They still have a backlog of 77,000 new applications in Springfield waiting to be processed. And they continue to receive new apps at a record rate.

That's a whole lot of people interested in buying a first time gun and ammunition for what we keep being told is just existing owners buying more guns for their "arsenal".

[Eleanors38]

7. THIS IS THE KEY DATA ^^^ for understanding how many have guns.

Another state, Connecticut, has a similar system which in effect I.D.s first-time buyers. Question: Can states with these systems be sufficient for a pool of data to make meaningful extrapolations as to a possible increase in gun-owners, both in real and relative terms?