Stephen Gutowski of The Free Beacon is the reporter to consult when the topic is guns, and he reports Thursday that April is the second month in a row that gun sales have hit a record high.
Is the concentrated gun control push by the #MarchForOurLives crowd and their targeted campaign against the NRA responsible? Or maybe it has something to do with villages like Deerfield, Ill., passing gun bans and requiring all citizens to surrender their “assault weapons” to the government?
April 2018 saw the most gun-related checks run through the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s background check system.
The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) ran 2,233,213 checks in April, according to an FBI document. That’s nearly 90,000 more checks than the previous April record set in 2016. It also represents the second month in a row to set a record with March seeing 2,767,699 checks.
In any case, gun sales are through the roof, as Gutowski shared in a Twitter thread:
I don't think people really understand how many guns American civilians own. The Small Arms Survey was just updated this week and found there are about 400 million civilian-owned guns in the US. https://t.co/mNRvluYl67
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
This, of course, makes is by far the #1 in civilian gun ownership in the world with the next closest being India at about 70 million. There are more civilian-owned guns in the US than their are people Most people, I think, understand that but don't really grasp what it means.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
Every law enforcement agency in America combined have about 1 million firearms in their inventory. That means American civilians have about 400 TIMES as many firearms as American police.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
In May alone, American civilians bought somewhere around 2 million firearms. That's twice as many firearms as every police department in America combined IN A SINGLE MONTH.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
Similarly, the American military is estimated to hold about 4.5 million firearms. That means American civilians have 100 TIMES as many firearms as every branch of the American military COMBINED.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
If you combine May and April's gun-related background check numbers you get 4.7 million. That means the American public bought more guns IN JUST THE LAST TWO MONTHS than the entire American military has on hand.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
Furthermore, the Small Arms Survey estimates all the world's law enforcement agencies combined hold about 22.7 million guns. In 2017 alone, the FBI processed 25.2 million gun checks. The American public bought more guns in 2017 than every police agency in the world combined.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
Between 2012 and 2017, the FBI did more than 135 million civilian gun checks. That's more than the estimated 133 million guns held by ALL THE WORLD'S MILITARIES COMBINED.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
Over the last 5 years, the American public purchased more guns than every military force on the planet combined.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
I hope that gives everyone some more insight into American gun ownership. For more details on this please read my piece: https://t.co/abSjUK5BsV
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) June 21, 2018
What was that they said about President Obama having been the best gun salesman there ever was? It looks like the anti-NRA Parkland activists might have claimed that title.
But if the government ever does decide to confiscate firearms, it’s got a big job ahead of it.
Seems a little low. https://t.co/vpcHK4B1Ts
— Lone Conservative (@LoConservative) June 21, 2018
So, about those confiscation/ban/restriction/responsible whatever plans… Whoops…
Interesting thread on gun ownership. https://t.co/cyomlFIEsX
— J.D. Tuccille (@JD_Tuccille) June 21, 2018
For reference, when Australia passed their total ban, they purchased or seized only ~700, 000.
Americans buy a million small arms each month.
These nations are on vastly different scales. https://t.co/RsD8metyVp
— Ash Ponders (@ashponders) June 21, 2018
Related:
Circuit court judge blocks Deerfield, Ill., from banning 'assault weapons' https://t.co/ZWzBmONm6a
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 13, 2018
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