US gun sales pass 1 million a month for 35 consecutive months.

[jsbhike]

This is the kind of statitistic I point to everytime the topic of firearms companies cutting off .gov sales comes up with the insinuation that companies won't do it because private sales are some infintesimally small drop in the bucket of their sales compared to .gov contracts while the reverse is actually more factual.

[Alpha-17]

I wonder what the real numbers are. People with permits don't have to go through the NICS check in most states.

True, but they will still need a 4473 and get a transfer number assigned. That data would be harder to collect, but not impossible.


And my sample is only a very, very small portion of the overall pie, but I'd say something like 20-25% of our customers use CCLs when buying guns. Most still use DLs for one reason or another.

[utahjeepr]

Those are NICS numbers only though correct? Several states have their own system and do not participate in NICS at all and a couple states only partially. So those stats are gonna run on the low side.

ETA: As someone mentioned, used guns purchased through a dealer will be included in those numbers as well.

Not sure what one can really glean from the stats other than "volume of traffic".

[Tanner]

The question/issue is not that 1M firearms are being sold monthly....how many are new or first time buyers? How many are just M4C members picking up another rifle/pistol for their collection/hobby?
If it's just M4C members or similar picking up an extra toy, then that number really doesn't matter. It's no different from purchasing another fishing rod or tennis racket to ones collection.

[AKDoug]

True, but they will still need a 4473 and get a transfer number assigned. That data would be harder to collect, but not impossible.


And my sample is only a very, very small portion of the overall pie, but I'd say something like 20-25% of our customers use CCLs when buying guns. Most still use DLs for one reason or another.

What is the transfer number you mentioned? Maybe your state is different? In mine you don't submit anything to NICS if the customer supplies their NICS exempt carry permit. You check box 29 and store the 4473.

[AndyLate]

The question/issue is not that 1M firearms are being sold monthly....how many are new or first time buyers? How many are just M4C members picking up another rifle/pistol for their collection/hobby?
If it's just M4C members or similar picking up an extra toy, then that number really doesn't matter. It's no different from purchasing another fishing rod or tennis racket to ones collection.

It is significant because it shows how tiny the percentage of guns used in crime is compared to the number of privately owned guns.

Andy

[kirkland]

I've met quite a few new gun owners over the last few years, and have known a few people who previously owned no guns and have become gun owners. The gun culture is growing despite their desperate attempts to kill it. Every time the democrats threaten gun control they sell millions more firearms.

[Pappabear]

Its a damn good reason other countries would prefer to not attack our wonderful country, as fcked up as it is we still have and utilize the 2A! We gotta lotta guns and ammo. I was reading an article in Firearms News about how difficult it is to get a single Glock in Israel. And the inability to get and carry firearms is almost non existent. All the while the acts of terror surround them and the Palestinians. Even encouraged and rewarded in some such countries. I can't imagine living in those conditions and not have a gun.

PB

[titsonritz]

And that's without any help from me.

[Alpha-17]

What is the transfer number you mentioned? Maybe your state is different? In mine, you don't submit anything to NICS if the customer supplies their NICS exempt carry permit. You check box 29 and store the 4473.

"NICS transaction number," aka, NTN. Goes into the box at the top right of the first page, labeled "Transferor's/Seller's Transaction Serial Number (if any)". I don't know how universal the system is, but at work, it is always assigned a number, no matter if the buyer is using a NICS exempt license or not. It's an 8-digit number, with our store number as the first 4 digits, and the transaction number as the last 4. "XXXX-0001" for instance. Given that the last four digits are sequential, it's how I keep track of how many guns we're selling, or at least creating forms for, over the course of a day. I don't know if this information is submitted with every NICS check, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that certain organizations can and do easily obtain it.

Disclaimer here at the end: I am not an expert, I just fill out the forms every day, and I could be spouting misinformation. If so, I apologize.