by The National Shooting Sports Foundation adjusted NICS checks for July 2015 were just released today. They show the highest numbers for a July on record.
According to the release from the NSSF, there were 946,528 checks as adjusted. This was a 15.9% increase over July 2014. Going back to the July 2013 numbers which were the highest for July until now, the NSSF reported 855,259 checks as adjusted. Thus, July 2015 represented a 10.67% increase over the 2013 figure.
While 2014 was a bit of mixed bag, it appears that 2015, for the most part, is starting to show increases over the prior year’s statistics.
It is important to note that NICS checks are not a perfect correlation with gun sales. States such Iowa, Michigan, and Kentucky use the NICS system for background checks on both new and existing concealed carry permits. Moreover, in a number of states such as North Carolina, a concealed carry permit is accepted in lieu of running the NICS check.
I have that graph for the last 5 years. Typically the numbers creep upward by a small percentage, probably in concert with the national population. Having the July numbers appear about 3% higher than last year is a bit of a yawner. A larger increase or a drop would be newsworthy.
Also not taken into account are the people holding multiple licenses to get more broad state coverage. Utah, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania all held by one person, gives you 39 to 40 states dependent on reciprocity agreements. Of the Instructors I run with, not one has only one license.
So a good educated firearm owner who wants to carry and travel increases the numbers also.