FBI sets record for gun check requests on Black Friday
Kevin Johnson
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – The FBI was flooded Friday with more than 200,000 background check requests for gun purchases, setting a new single-day record, the bureau reported Saturday.
In all, the FBI fielded 203,086 requests on Black Friday, up from the previous single-day highs of 185,713 last year and 185,345 in 2015. The two previous records also were recorded on Black Friday.
Gun checks, required for purchases at federally licensed firearm dealers, are not a measure of actual gun sales.
The number of firearms sold Friday is likely higher because multiple firearms can be included in one transaction by a buyer.
The surging numbers received by the bureau’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System come just days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a sweeping review of the system, an apparent failure of which allowed a court-martialed Air Force veteran to purchase the rifle used earlier this month to kill 25 people inside a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church. The victims included a pregnant woman whose unborn child also died.
Following the shooting, the Air Force acknowledged it had not informed the FBI of the court-martial, which likely would have blocked the 2016 sale of the murder weapon to Devin Kelley.
The breakdown highlighted longstanding problems within the system, which for more than 20 years has served as the centerpiece of the government’s effort to block criminals from obtaining firearms. Yet it has largely struggled to keep pace with the volume of firearm transactions and still properly maintain the databases of criminal and mental health records necessary to determine whether buyers are eligible to purchase guns.
Last year, the FBI official overseeing NICS was forced to transfer personnel from construction projects and units that oversee the gathering of crime statistics to keep up with the surge of requests for background checks. The office processed a record 27.5 million background checks in 2016.
Stephen Morris, a former assistant FBI director, told USA TODAY after the shooting that the NICS system has long been plagued by incomplete or outdated information. In many cases, a background check may show a record of arrest but not indicate whether the case resulted in a felony conviction that would prohibit a gun purchase.
While gun sales have been surging in recent years — largely driven by fears of more restrictive gun laws proposed during the Obama administration — gun check numbers had leveled off in the first months of the pro-gun Trump administration.

That is great.
I would bet lots more guns were sold than that check number.
In my state with a carry permit you show it and walk out with the purchase in hand

Yes, good to hear.

The thing that makes me smile is that a lot of this is due to price, not politics.

I need to do my part by the end of the year. Need to grab that Beretta APX before 31 Dec so I can get in on the three free mags deal

Those numbers can't possibly be true, I keep reading that most Americans overwhelmingly want to abolish guns.

If these are new owners, I hope that they are joining the NRA, JPFO, GOA, RKBA,,,,

quote:

203,086

#winning

In NC you can skip the NICS check if the buyer has a Pistol Purchase Permit or a CCW.

I imagine a lot of other states do the same, I bet those numbers are probably half of the actual purchases

I'm glad I could help boost that number by one.

No check in Mississippi with a carry permit, either. So my two didn’t get counted.

Best I’ve done is 3 AR lowers on one 4473. Although my local guy is quite the salesman and will often ask me if I want to buy another gun as if it will save me $35 on the state and fed fees. You see he’s really just trying to save me money.

I'm sorry I let y'all down! I only purchased parts to finish building rifles that I bought lowers for over the past year.

I predict that the long gun I purchased on Black Friday will take longer than the 2 days for the NICS check. Maybe by the end of the week I will be able to pick it up.

quote:

<snip>
... come just days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered a sweeping review of the system, ...
</snip>

quote:

:
<snip>
In my state with a carry permit you show it and walk out with the purchase in hand
</snip>

Hopefully these will be part of the "sweeping changes", but I have my doubts...

I did my part, My Gen 5 G19 and my MP9 M2.0 both arrived Friday.

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
If these are new owners, I hope that they are joining the NRA, JPFO, GOA, RKBA,,,,

Absolutely, if these new gun owners would all donate a fraction of what that new gun cost. We’d be much stronger for it.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
In NC you can skip the NICS check if the buyer has a Pistol Purchase Permit or a CCW.

I imagine a lot of other states do the same, I bet those numbers are probably half of the actual purchases

Iowa is the same, but I didn't buy any guns on Friday. I did get half off on 50 lbs of ice melter!

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
In NC you can skip the NICS check if the buyer has a Pistol Purchase Permit or a CCW.

I imagine a lot of other states do the same, I bet those numbers are probably half of the actual purchases

Do they skip the check or do they just not make you wait for it? I thought if they made you fill out the forms it was so they could do the background check.

They skip it. The 4473 is required for the transfer from the FFL, the concealed permit negates the NICS call in. They just put your NC permit number in the spot for the NICS confirmation number and you walk out the door.

Right, in NC, all I had to do was give my favorite local store my sheriff’s permission slip, meaning I already went thru my background checks, and went home with my first wheel gun, so I was not counted I think.

Course, lost it in that damn boating accident...)