(VitalNews.org) – An NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) report in April 2023 shows that gun sales have surged in states that have adopted – or are proposing to adopt – radical measures against Second Amendment rights.
According to Mark Oliva, the Managing Director of Public Affairs at NSSF, there has been an increase of over 1.3 million FBI NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) verifications over the past 12 months.
He suggested that this increase is closely tied to the fact that governors and legislators in certain states are taking increasingly radical measures to prohibit law-abiding Americans from possessing firearms.
He pointed out that Illinois and Washington – two states which adopted bans on “assault weapons” over the past 12 months – have seen sharp increases in NICS checks for firearm sales, in particular with AK47 and AR15 rifles and their variants.
Oliva stated that “Illinois recorded a total of 39,954 adjusted background checks in April 2023, compared to 35,790 in April 2022 – and Washington State recorded a total of 71,272 adjusted background checks in April 2023, compared to 49,641 in April 2022.”
The National Shooting Sports Foundation uses the phrase “adjusted background checks” to identify checks which specifically apply to gun sales.
He also noted that in Oregon, where more gun controls have been consistently pushed year after year, “there were 43,574 adjusted background checks in April 2023, compared to 27,921 a year ago.”
The increased appetite for lethal firearms is concurrent with a horrific series of mass shootings and firearm fatalities that have outnumbered deaths in motor vehicle traffic accidents by 48,830 to 45,404 over the past year.
According to many potential gun owners, an additional motivating factor has been the chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic. The perceived need to protect the lives of themselves and their families in the face of capricious legislation is proving to be a powerful driving force that increasingly authoritarian governments ignore at their peril.
Copyright 2023, VitalNews.org
