US Sees Record Gun Sales Amid Many Mass Shootings

NPR reports:

First time gun owners, young and old from across the country, are helping to push record levels of gun sales for what looks like the second year in a row. Gun sellers across the country said the pandemic and civil unrest over the last year has pushed customers to feel they must take control of their family’s protection. Fears of Congress passing new gun control legislation in the wake of a rash of mass shootings since March are also adding fuel to the buyer’s craze, industry insiders said.

In January, more than 4 million background checks were processed, compared to the previous January when 2.7 million were done. And in February 2021, 3.4 million checks were reported; In February 2020, 2.8 million were completed. During the entire month of March 2021, the FBI completed nearly 4.7 million background checks compared to the same month the year before, when the agency reported 3.7 million checks.

Read the full article.

First time gun owners, young and old from across the country, are helping to push record levels of gun sales for what looks like the second year in a row. https://t.co/c3IWbQTYyv

— WBUR (@WBUR) April 26, 2021