The number of background checks on gun purchases for Black Friday reached the second highest total in history, indicating that gun sales on Black Friday reached their second-highest total for any day in history. On Black Friday, the FBI ran 202,465 checks. As AP noted, the numbers of background checks “remain the most reliable method of tracking the industry.”
AP added, “By the end of November, more than 25.4 million background checks – generally seen as a strong indicator of gun sales – had been conducted by the FBI, putting 2019 on pace to break the record of 27.5 million set in 2016, the last full year President Barack Obama was in the White House.”
Professor Adam Winkler of UCLA commented, “As we´re coming up upon another presidential election, Donald Trump is vulnerable, and the Democratic presidential contenders are falling all over themselves to propose more aggressive gun reforms than their opponents.”
Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents the gun industry, added, “Americans are choosing to invest their hard-earned dollars in their ability to exercise their rights and buy the firearms they want before gun control politicians attempt to regulate away that ability.” He told Fox Business, “This tells us Americans are voting with their wallets when it comes to their ability to exercise Second Amendment rights. Interestingly, Americans are turning out to buy the firearms they want in increasing numbers even as politicians on the national stage and in some states are increasingly vocal on restricting Second Amendment rights.”
Fox Business added, “Data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System shows the agency performed 2.4 million background checks for potential gun purchasers in October 2019, which is the highest number of checks recorded by the agency for that month. The second-highest recorded year for October’s background checks was 2016, when 2.3 million checks were conducted.”
USA Today noted, “For the first time since the bureau began conducting checks in 1998, the number of monthly checks has not fallen below 2 million this year.”
ABC News delineated the leading Democratic presidential candidates’ positions on guns, noting Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Obama administration Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg support a national gun licensing program. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) would require all gun owners to acquire a license through the federal government.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wants to expand background checks, end the “gun show loophole” and ban the sale and distribution of “assault weapons.”
As for the current leader, former Vice-President Joe Biden, Politico noted:
Biden wants to ban the sale and manufacture of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Assault weapons that are already owned by the public would be regulated under the National Firearms Act, similar to regulations for machine guns and silencers. He also wants to launch a federal buyback program for those who opt not to register their weapons with the National Firearms Act. Online sales of guns would be banned. Background checks would also be required for all gun purchases, though some rare exceptions could be made for gifts between close family members.