Monthly Streak Of More Than 1 Million Gun Sales Reaches 57

When American retailers sold more than 1 million new firearms in a single month nearly five years ago many considered it a milestone. Now it has become more of the norm, with April marking the fifty-seventh straight month of guns sales of a million or more.

According to a report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the April 2024 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure was just over 1.2 million. That’s a slight decrease from the April 2023 figures of roughly 1.4 million.

Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.

Mark Oliva, NSSF’s managing director for public affairs, said gun purchasers have once again made a statement on their freedom.

“Over 1.2 million Americans showed President Biden exactly where they are when it comes to his promises of increased gun control should he be elected for another term,” Oliva said. “President Biden has used every tool at his disposal to attack the firearm industry, from publishing Constitutionally-dubious and overreaching administrative rules that bypass Congress to create criminal law to weaponizing the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to throttle firearm and ammunition manufacturers and exporters.”

Oliva said that while the president has continued to attack lawful gun owners, he’s ignored the violent criminals preying on everyday Americans.

“Americans reject these misdirected and politically-motivated maneuvers to infringe on their Second Amendment freedoms and punish the industry that makes it possible to exercise the rights to keep and bear arms,” he said. “By the millions, for 57 months straight, Americans choose to lawfully purchase, keep and use the firearms of their choosing.”

It’s important to note that 24 statues have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check. The number of NICS checks in those states does not include those legal transfers based on qualifying permits, and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.