A surge in mass shootings, civil unrest, and congressional pushes for increased gun control have each contributed to record-level gun sales in the U.S., particularly amongst first-time gun owners.
In March 2021, alone, the FBI completed 4.7 million background checks for gun sales. Given the fact that there is no national gun registry, background checks are often the most reliable way to gauge gun sales.
The rise in gun sales started last year as the coronavirus pandemic, protests against police violence, and general social unrest spread across the country. In fact, 2020 saw a 65% increase in gun sales over the year before it. The biggest surges of the year were seen in March, June, July, and December, each of which corresponds to a catalyst of either political uncertainty, pandemic lockdowns, or protests.
In particular, Georgia, Michigan, and New Jersey saw massive increases in gun background checks, 68%, 155%, and 24% respectively.
According to reporting by National Public Radio (NPR), the rise in sales was seen amongst all political beliefs and was driven by white, Black, Asian, and Latino buyers, with the largest increases seen among non-white Americans. The reason for these sales, according to seller accounts, was growing uncertainty and fear as well as a need to feel safe.
This fear is partly driven by general unrest, as well as growing distrust in police assistance.
Gun sales in March of this year were the second-highest out of any month on record so far, bested only by March of 2020 when the pandemic pushed many Americans to start hoarding weapons and munitions. In fact, FBI data has shown that six of the agency's top ten days for the background checks needed to buy a gun from a licensed seller were in March 2021.
"It is clear that firearm sales in March [2021] were driven by gun control calls from politicians to ban entire classes of firearms and enact onerous gun laws," National Shooting Sports Federation (NSSF) spokesman Mark Oliva told CNN.
Indeed, last month House Democrats passed two gun-control bills aimed at expanding background check requirements on all gun transfers and sales. However, in order to pass in the Senate, these bills will need not only universal Democratic support but also the support of at least 10 GOP Senators.
However, on March 16, just five days after those bills were passed in the House, eight people were shot and killed in Atlanta. The series of shootings was allegedly fueled by Asian hate.
According to Oliva, the demographics of American gun owners are changing. While last year's surge saw high numbers of African American buyers and first-time female gun-buyers, 2021 has seen an increase of purchases by first-time Asian gun-buyers.
"The face of today's gun owner no longer fits in the neat little box that some would like to put gun ownership into," Oliva told CNN. "The fact is gun ownership in America looks more like the country than it ever has."
Since the March 16 shootings, there have been at least 20 more mass shootings in the U.S.
According to gun sellers, it may not be the mass shootings themselves that drive sales, but rather the fear amongst buyers that these shootings will lead to tighter gun restrictions. According to these sellers, buyers feel they must take the protection of their families into their own hands.
"We see this trend often. Whenever high profile mass shootings occur, people begin stockpiling weapons out of fear that the government will restrict gun rights," co-founder of The Violence Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center that tracks public mass shootings, James Densley told NPR.
Some gun sellers have also reported that many buyers from the Black community are purchasing their own firearms due to distrust in the Police and fear of dialing 911 in case of emergencies.
Gun sales remained at high levels in January following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Between 2020 and 2021, January gun sales increased by nearly 60%.
The guns most often purchased by first-tie buyers are semi-automatic handguns. Sales of this type of gun outpaced the second most-purchased gun, shotguns, by a rate of 2 to 1, according to data gathered by NSSF.