2020 sets all-time record for FBI firearm background checks amid election, pandemic
https://www.kxan.com/news/consumer/2020-sets-all-time-record-for-fbi-firearm-background-checks-amid-election-pandemic/
USTIN (KXAN) — With two months still left in the year, the FBI has already set a record for the number of firearm background checks conducted in 2020.
Licensed gun dealers must legally run this check every time someone purchases a firearm or multiple firearms. The agency began tracking this data with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in 1998. While it doesn’t account for every gun sold, it does indicate Americans purchasing patters.
Amid a pandemic, civil unrest and a presidential election, the 2020 numbers show Americans have increasingly turned to firearm ownership.
In Texas, the FBI conducted 1,922,440 checks. The last time Texas saw this much interest was in 2016, when 1,721,726 checks were done throughout the year of the last presidential election. The state also saw spikes in in 2012 and 2008.
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