2016 Smashed Previous Gun Sales Record

The FBI ran 27.5 million gun-related background checks in 2016—about 4.4 million more than any other year on record. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System processed 2,771,159 background checks in December, bringing 2016’s total to 27,538,673, according to FBI records posted on Wednesday. That dwarfs the firearms check record of 23,141,970 set the previous year. NICS firearms background checks are considered an accurate metric of gun sales. The FBI processed twice as many firearms checks in 2016, the last full year of President Obama’s administration, than it did in 2008, the year Obama was elected. During President Obama’s eight-year tenure, the FBI has processed 157,233,157 firearms checks—61,249,149 more than the previous ten years. Those figures have led some to label Obama “the greatest gun salesman in history.” Gun rights activists have long argued that Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party’s advocacy for gun control measures has fueled gun sales...more