Sales of guns and ammo are losing steam after a frenzied run-up sparked by fears of greater restrictions in the wake of the Newtown shooting and other massacres.
Background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, considered to be the most accurate means of tracking gun sales, plunged by a third in January compared to the year before. There were about 1.66 million background checks last month, and nearly 2.5 million in January the year before.
via Gun sales are plunging – Feb. 14, 2014.
In a sense, they are right, but the overall sense of panic/celebration needs to be moderated just a tad.
Let’s check the NICS numbers, shall we? Comparing the number for Decembers of one year against the January of the following year:
- Dec 1998 = 871,644, Jan 1999 = 591,355
- Dec 1999 = 1,253,354 , Jan 2000 = 639,972
- Dec 2000 = 1,000,962, Jan 2001 = 640,528
- Dec 2001 = 1,062,559, Jan 2002 = 665,803
- Dec 2002 = 974,059, Jan 2003 = 653,751
- And it goes on pretty much the same
Even during the bubble, the sales in January were less than the sales in December. Maybe not such a big margin, but there is a descent in sales. Click on the link above and check it yourselves.
What we are seeing is perhaps a normalization of gun sales. December is a month of high sales as seen in the NICS table and probably because of the obvious: It is frigging Christmas time! Gifts anyone?
Captain Obvious, please report to the bridge.
One other problem they have is all of the permit holders that don’t have to submit to a NICS check for every gun they bought. Here in Iowa, oour carry permits are good for 5 years. If I bought a gun a month*, that’s 60 guns with one background check. With nearly 10 million carry permit holders in the US, That’s a lot of guns that aren’t being counted.
* I wish, but it is a nice fantasy.
I have simply been waiting till the gun buying frenzy slowed down and prices normalized to get out and pick up a new Glock and a S&W M&P 15. I am now out actively looking to add to my gun safe.
Too bad it is tough find ammo for said guns. Kind like having a Bentley parked at home but no gas to drive it.