Protests and pandemic cause Americans to buy more firearms, FBI records reveal

The United States recently witnessed its worst protests in the recent history. Clubbed with the coronavirus pandemic, it put a lot of pressure on people to rethink their safety.

Owing to this, more Americans are buying firearms than ever before. The US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) undertook 3.6 million background checks in just the month of July 2020. This marks the third highest month on record for arms sales since the agency began logging stats in 1998.

Over 2 million checks

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In July 2019, the FBI had conducted 2 million background checks.June had broken all records in terms of background checks, with 3.9 million background checks. In March, the number stood at 3.7 million.

The states with the highest number of firearms sales include Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and California, where most checks were performed related to selling, transferring, or licensing guns.

US law mandates background checks on every buyer, regardless if whether the gun was purchased at a store, or during a gun show.

Upon purchasing a gun, the buyer must present their identification to the seller, and fills out a form made by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. This form includes the buyer’s address, age, race, criminal history.

Following this, the FBI conducts a database check on whether the buyer had any history of crime.

Factors contributing to this surge

The US has been volatile lately, be it due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has killed more people in the US than elsewhere. People were ordered to stay in during the pandemic. Additionally, the anti-racism protests fuelled by the murder of George Floyd in the hands of the police led to a lot of rioting across the country.

Most of the protests remained peaceful, but owing to sporadic rioting, the National Guard was sent in to many places to contain the violence. In the city of Portland, Oregon, people clashed with federal forces on multiple occasions.

The US has a history of witnessing a spike in the number of firearms sales in the aftermath of a tragedy, IN 2012, a 39 per cent spike in sales was noted by the FBI. This came in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

An additional 48 per cent checks were also performed by the FBI in 2015 after the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California.

A concern of safety may be driving such high sales of guns. National Rifle Association’s official told CNN that this happens when people worry about their safety, causing a spike in firearm sales.