NICS checks

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CCRKBA Weighs In On 60-Hour Shutdown Of Gun Sales In Pennsylvania

May 8, 2012 by

If you are a regular reader of Sebastian and Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned you already know that the Pennsylvania State Police are shutting down their Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) for upgrades to their computer system. As a result, there can be no firearms transactions from the evening of May 19th through the morning of May 22nd.

I think Alan Gottlieb of the CCRKBA is one the mark when he says that a) there are alternatives to shutting down the whole system and b) the PA State Police need to get out of this business and leave it to the FBI with NICS.

BELLEVUE, WA – A complete shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System by the state police for a period of 60 hours later this month for a system upgrade is “inexcusable,” the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“Closing down the background check system, and thus suspending all firearms transactions and concealed carry license processing simply allows the Pennsylvania State Police to obstruct the gun rights of law-abiding citizens,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are not reassured by a promise from the agency that it will expedite this computer system update in order to restore service as soon as possible. Access to the computers for background checks should not be suspended at all.

“Surely,” he continued, “the State Police can find alternate means of processing firearms transactions and permit applications while the upgrade is in progress.”

The system is scheduled for update from 10 p.m. Saturday, May 19 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 22. Gottlieb said this highlights a problem with such systems when there is no backup. Authorities can literally suspend the Second Amendment by turning off a switch or pulling a plug, he observed, and use whatever excuse they want.

“We live in an age when computer upgrades should be accomplished considerably faster,” Gottlieb said. “Locking down such a vital system that is important to so many Pennsylvania residents for 60 hours is not an ‘inconvenience,’ it’s an outrage.”

Keystone State gun owners will hold their 7th annual Second Amendment Liberty rally tomorrow, May 8 on the main steps in the capitol rotunda. This would be a grand opportunity for firearms owners to contact their state legislators, and the governor’s office, to express their dissatisfaction over the PICS problem, he suggested.

“Since the last time this happened in 2007, Pennsylvania gun owners have been pushing for an end to the PICS system,” Gottlieb noted. “It is time to put the State Police out of the background check business, and turn over this important job to the NICS system operated by the FBI. They do their upgrades faster, and they deal with the entire country.”

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23 Skidoo

May 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

23 Skidoo was a slang expression from the Roaring ’20s. It could just as easily be applied to the latest NSSF-adjusted NICS figures for April 2012 which represent the 23rd straight month in which they have increased when compared to the previous year.

The April 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 931,658 is an increase of 10.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 843,484 in April 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted April 2012 NICS figure of 1,416,074 reflects a 5.7 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,339,673 in April 2011.

To see the year over year data graphically for the last 12 months, go here. You can also see how April 2012 compares to the previous 12 years by going here.

It should be remembered that NICS checks are used in some states such as Kentucky, Iowa, and Michigan for CCW background checks on new and existing permit holders. Nonetheless, while NICS checks are not a direct correlation to firearm sales, they certainly do illustrate the growth trend in those sales because of their use for purchases background checks at the point-of-purchase.

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22 Months And Counting

April 3, 2012 by 1 Comment

This is getting to be something of a broken record – not that I’m complaining. March 2012 marks the 22nd straight month in which the NSSF-adjusted NICS checks (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) has increased when compared to the same period last year.

From the NSSF:

The March 2012 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,189,152 is an increase of 20.0 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 990,840 in March 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted March 2012 NICS figure of 1,715,125 reflects a 19.3 percent increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,437,709 in March 2011.

While NICS checks are not a direct correlation with firearm sales, they do give a good indication of the state of the firearms market. NICS checks are used by some states such as Kentucky, Iowa, and Michigan to conduct their concealed carry permit application checks. Moreover, in states such as North Carolina where a Concealed Handgun Permit is a substitute for the NICS check for the purchase of a firearm, you have some underreporting.

March 2012 was the highest month in the last decade with 1.2 million NSSF-adjusted NICS checks. It eclipsed even the then record number checks for March 2009 and March 2011.

The possibility of Obama’s reelection is one factor frequently cited as the motivation behind the increased sales of firearms. While this certainly is a major factor, the increase in the number of women taking responsibility for their own protection as well as the growth in concealed carry has to factor in as well.

With this 22nd continuous increase from prior year periods, I think there is little doubt that we will see that the April and May numbers will mark the 23rd and 24th consecutive months of increases. Josh Horwitz of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) can rant and rave all he wants that these figures are meaningless in terms of gun sales and new gun owners. The tide has turned and it is sweeping over him and his hoodie-wearing wannabe staffers just like the tsunami swept over northern Japan.

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Eighteen Months And Counting

December 6, 2011 by

November marked the 18th straight month in which the year over year FBI-run NICS checks increased according to the adjusted statistics provided by the NSSF.  The numbers from NSSF show that 1,101,076 National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks were run during the month. This figure is an increase of 16.5 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 945,463 in November 2010. Undoubtedly, this was pushed along by the almost 130,000 checks run on Black Friday, November 25th, alone.

The NSSF research staff has to adjust these figures because a number of states use the NICS checks for concealed carry permit approval purposes and for checking on active CCW permit holders. The states include Kentucky, Iowa, and Utah.

Moreover, this November had the second highest number of NICS checks for the month of November in the last 10 years. Only November 2008 had more. I believe that we can reasonably say that November 2008’s sales can be explained by the election of Barack Obama and the feeling that he would seek to implement new gun control measures once in office. He did after all says that we gun owners were bitterly clinging to our guns and religion.

November is also an auspicious month as it marks the 18th anniversary of the signing of the Brady Act on November 30, 1993 by President Clinton. I can’t think of a better way to mark the 18th anniversary than to have 18 straight months of year over year increases in NICS checks. It somehow seems fitting.

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Black Friday Gun Sales

December 2, 2011 by 3 Comments

As noted elsewhere, NICS checks on Black Friday hit an all-time one day high of 129, 166 which is up 32% from the previous high reached on Black Friday in 2008. Larry Keane of the NSSF attributed to a growing awareness among Americans that they have a right to own a firearm.

Of course, the naysayers at the Brady Campaign are doing their best to emulate Ebenezer Scrooge and say “bah humbug”.

Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said he was “skeptical” of the Black Friday gun surge.

“I think there may be no real signifcance at all,” Henigan said. “It’s possible that gun companies are just catching on to creating a Black Friday frenzy for themselves.”

Sorry Dennis but the numbers don’t lie – people bought more guns on that one day than ever before regardless of whether there were sales or not. Moreover, given that in many states, CCW holders are exempted from NICS checks, the actual number could be higher.

I do like Sebastian’s suggestion to Henigan – repeal the Brady Act so numbers such as this won’t be reported.

Here in North Carolina, the amount of firearm sales on Black Friday attracted the attention of reporters at WCNC in Charlotte. They visited Hyatt Gun Shop which is one of the larger dealers in North Carolina as well as the nation.

It was nice to see a reporter not only recognize the growth in sales but know enough to index her trigger finger along the receiver.

H/T NRA News and Sebastian

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12th Straight Month-Over-Month Increase In Firearms Sales

June 7, 2011 by

The National Shooting Sports Foundation released their adjusted NICS data for May 2011 today. There was an 11.4% increase in NICS checks for May 2011 over May 2010. For the month, there were 696,947 checks as opposed to 625,763 for the prior May.

This is the 12th straight month with increases over the same month in the prior year.

NSSF adjust the NICS figures to account for states like Utah, Kentucky, and Iowa which use the NICS database for CCW application checks. Though there isn’t a direct correlation with firearms sales, NSSF says “the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide a more accurate picture of current market conditions.”

The raw numbers can be found at the NICS website here.