Americans purchased more firearms in August than they did in July, which marked five straight years of million-or-more purchases. And August’s sales, according to the Firearm Industry Trade Association (NSSF, formerly the National Shooting Sports Foundation), were more than 8 percent ahead of August a year ago. Handgun sales were up by 5 percent over last August, while long-gun sales jumped 14 percent.
Translation
More than 82 million Americans now own, at least as far as the federal government knows, over 500 million firearms.
The NSSF admits that its estimate, based on the number of background checks conducted last month, is likely too low. Two dozen states allow purchases of multiple firearms with a single background check. And there are no background checks for private transfers of firearms in many states. Nor is there any way for any federal agency to know how many firearms are being made at home.
August’s record was set even in the face of some states limiting purchases of firearms to one per month.
Why Are Americans Increasingly Arming Themselves?
Many reasons for the increase have been proffered. It’s that time of year; it’s an election year; the Marxists controlling the federal government are increasingly blatant about their intentions to rid the country of all privately owned firearms; gun violence in Democrat-run cities continues to escalate despite the passage of increasingly onerous restrictions on the Second Amendment right. And, remarkably, gun prices are historically low, giving those with limited budgets the opportunity to provide for their own defense.
And then there’s the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July in Pennsylvania. The standard line offered by the mainstream media is that the incident was “the most significant security failure by the Secret Service since the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.” But an increasing number of skeptics believe that it wasn’t a failure: it was a deliberate and intentional stand-down by the service in the hopes that the shooter would eliminate forever the risk of an outsider taking back the Oval Office in January 2025.
More Americans Waking Up
Many are waking up to the war being waged against freedom by Marxists and are reacting accordingly by arming up. As Mark Oliva of NSSF expressed it:
The horrific crimes committed by a disturbed youth in Georgia are reprehensible and don’t represent the millions of law-abiding gun owners who responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights each and every day.
[August’s] 1.2 million background checks show that Constitutional rights matter, especially when it comes to the ability for responsible and law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their loved ones against evil and those who have no respect for life or law.
The steady drumbeat of over 1 million background checks each month continues and demonstrates Americans will choose freedom instead of seeing their rights be stolen due to the horrendous actions of violent criminals.
Millions of New Gun Owners Since January 2021
It is estimated that since the Biden administration’s takeover of the presidency in 2021, more than 22 million Americans purchased a firearm for the very first time. It is reasonable to assume each of them made the decision to do so considering the deteriorating cultural and political norms. They are learning the hard way just how important the Second Amendment right to purchase, keep, bear, and potentially use a firearm for self-defense really is. And, they will be among the cohort of the other 60-million-plus gun owners who will be voting in November. Historically, gun owners outvote non-gun owners by double digits, and they vote Republican.
Dean Weingarten, writing for Ammoland, said it right:
More people, less expensive guns, restoration of Second Amendment rights, and political … insecurity all combine to create high firearm sales and [an increasingly] well-armed American citizenry.
Related article:
New Report: Americans Purchased More Than 1 Million Firearms a Month for Five Years
